Workers in Ondo State civil service and 18 local governments in the state have given Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu 96-hour ultimatum to remit their deductions, unpaid salary arrears and leave bonuses of about two years as well as pensions.
The workers under the aegis of Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), in a letter dated July 10, 2020, gave the governor till Wednesday July 15, 2020, to call for negotiations, or they would embark on strike.
The letter, jointly signed by Comrades Oluwaniyi Fabunmi and Kehinde Olomiye, Chairman and Secretary of JNC, the umbrella body of all the labour unions in the public service comprising affiliates of the NLC and TUC, contained all the demands of the workers.
The workers’ demands as itemised by the council included payment of December 2016 salary (local government/state Universal Basic Education Board), January 2017 salary for all workers, 2018 leave bonus for Grade Level 07 and above.
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Others included 2019 leave bonus for all except health workers, February 2020 to June 2020 unremitted salary deductions for those in core civil service/TESCOM, COVID-19 hazard allowance to health workers, farmers’ Congress issue, and 50 percent pension arrears, November 2018(for LG/SUBEB pensioners.)
JNC, therefore, stated: “We hereby pray that these demands be met without delay as we open our door for meeting with Your Excellency between now and Wednesday July 15, 2020 after which the ‘gathered cloud’ will begin to ‘drop rainfall which may not be too palatable for anyone in the state.
“To state it succinctly, sir, we are ready with our arsenal full, to begin the discharge one after the other, ‘labour missiles’ if nothing is done by the evening of 15th July, 2020.”
