Ogun workers begin indefinite strike today

Ogun State workers, under the organised labour, will today commence indefinite strike over refusal of the state government to meet their demands.

Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ogun State chapter, Emmanuel Bankole, who disclosed this, at the weekend, while addressing journalists in Abeokuta, said all efforts to get the government to meet their demands had not yielded any positive results hence, the planned strike.

He alleged that the state government had failed to remit workers’ 160 months contributory pension deductions to the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), eight years of unremitted leave allowances, pension review and consequential adjustments for retirees, backlog of salary deductions and gratuity, arrears of unremitted contributory pensions, gratuity and pensions due to retired civil servants, among others.

He lamented that workers would be retiring into penury and uncertainty, stressing the pathetic plights workers were being subjected to.

Bankole said the workers would continue to keep the state on industrial lockdown until their demands are met. He said: “Given the intransigence of the Ogun State government to respond to earlier entreaties by the NLC, organised labour has no other option than to keep the state on an industrial lockdown until our demands are met.

“We wrote previously giving the government two-week ultimatum but no response. We wrote another letter giving seven days, no response still. Seventh day shall be by Monday (today). Since we have tried all means and there is no response from government, by Monday, we will meet at workers’ parliament, where decision on the industrial actions would be taken.”