Osun civil servants protest half salary, declare indefinite strike

The Nigeria Labour Congress in Osun State have declared an indefinite strike over the payment of half salary to workers in the state. 

Labour leaders led by Jacob Adekomi, the Chairman of the NLC in the state, on Wednesday led other unions’ leaders to the State Secretariat at Abere to shut down the place as workers commenced the indefinite strike.

The NLC on Wednesday morning at about 7 am took over the entrance gate of the secretariat to ensure total compliance to its directive of going on an indefinite strike over the modulated workers salary being received for over two years now.

The Leadership of the state NLC had last week directed their members not to return to work this week as they will no longer take half salary from the state government.

However, the chairman of the NLC, Jacob Adekomi, said the directive by the Head of Service, Festus Olowogboyega, that workers on Grade Level 1-7 resume work got the unions infuriated hence the resolve to ensure they turn any erring worker back home.

The workers are demanding confirmation of appointments of some workers since 2012, promotion for others and stoppage of modulated salary been paid to workers and pensioners since July 2015.

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They had announced on Friday that they would begin an indefinite strike immediately after the Christmas break over modulated salary, lack of promotion and the non-remittance of their contributory pension deductions to workers’ pension accounts.

The workers had during their last meeting with Governor Rauf Aregbesola insisted that the state had the financial ability to pay them full salaries.  They said most of them had been collecting half salaries since September 2015 and the governor still didn’t want to change this even after collecting N6.3 billion third tranche of the Paris Club refund.

Aregbesola had told the workers that only 28 percent of them were receiving half salaries while the other 72 percent had been receiving their full salaries. He promised that the issue of non-payment of salaries would end by March, 2018.

Osun Workers Commence Strike, Block Secretariat

As Nigerian workers resume from the Christmas holiday this morning, civil servants in Osun have been barred from gaining entry into the Abere secretariat by the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).