Civil
servants in Ondo State began a two-day warning strike on Wednesday to press
home their demand for the payment of their two-month salary arrears.
When
our correspondent visited some government offices in Akure, the state capital
on Wednesday, all of them were under lock and key while security men were
sighted at the entrance of the Governor’s Office and some ministries to prevent
possible breakdown of law and order.
The
leadership of organised labour in the state on Tuesday had directed workers to
stay at home if the salaries promised by the government were not paid before
the close of work, but it was gathered that some of the workers received alerts
of one month salary on Tuesday night.
However,
the state government described the strike as an embarrassment to the government
and an unpatriotic act on the part of the workers since they had started
receiving the July salaries.
The
state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, condemned the action
of the labour leaders as he said since the government had started the payment
of salaries, there should be no need of directing the workers to embark on the
strike.
He
said, “There should be no need for strike, the governor had directed that
two-month salaries should be paid, the workers should have exercised patience,
the delay may be as a result of bank process.
“They
should understand that the two months cannot be paid at the same time, it has
to take some time before the second month enter but I am sure that before the
end of today (Wednesday) all of them would have received alert of the two
months.
“So
I see no reason the workers should go on strike if they are not politically
motivated.”
To
ensure total compliance, the labour leaders, assembled as early as 7:00am on
Wednesday on the premises of the Ministry of Finance and moved from one
premises to the other, including local government secretariat, hospitals,
schools, ministries and parastatals in the state.
The
State Chairman of the Public Service Joint Negotiating Council, Mr. Sunday
Adeleye, alleged that the government only tried to divide the workers by paying
net salary for the month of July to the core civil servants and secondary
school teachers and not paying anything to workers in the local government and
primary school teachers and other categories of workers.
He
accused the government of breaching the agreement reached with the labour
leaders at the meeting where it was agreed that gross salaries of July and
August and deductions for the period would be paid.
The
JNC chairman said the government was also withholding deductions fo the month
of July apart from not paying local government workers and primary school
teachers.
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