Ondo civil servants to start indefinite strike over unpaid salaries

 Civil servants in Ondo State have vowed to proceed on an indefinite strike tomorrow if the state government does not pay all outstanding salaries for May and June with  the deductions.

The workers grouse include non-payment of the deductions for March and April this year.
Chairman of the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, JNC, Comrade Sunday Adeleye  said this in Akure, yesterday.

Adeleye noted that the planned indefinite strike became imperative after the workers issued a seven-day ultimatum to the state government last week to commence the payment of owned salary without further delay.

The Chairman said “We have been meeting with the representatives of the state government since  last week after issuing a seven-day ultimatum and it ended in a deadlock.  

“But if by Tuesday, government failed to yield to our demand, the union will have no other option than to call a congress and an indefinite total strike declared tomorrow.”
 

Vanguard learnt that the workers last week issued a seven-day ultimatum to the state government over non-payment of all deductions in their salary and the salaries for May and June.

Adeleye said the non-remittance of workers deductions to their different cooperatives has stopped them from meeting their needs.

The seven-day ultimatum was also contained in a statement  signed by the JNC State Chairman, Adeleye after a meeting with labour leaders in Akure, the state capital.
 

Adeleye noted in the statement that non-payment of all deductions in the salary of the workers’ shows government’s insensitivity to the plight of civil servants in the state.
 

The statement on the ultimatum reads; “The unions in the Public Service of Ondo State under the Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) rose from its meeting held on Monday, 13th July, 2015 where exhaustive deliberations on the welfare of workers in the public service of the state were discussed.

“The meeting however agreed that the untold hardship of the delay in the payment of salaries to workers and observed that, life is no longer bearable and pride of being Civil Servants has become a thing of the past.”Your Excellency, it is quite imperative to inform you that, deductions for March, April and full salaries for May and June, 2015 are yet to be paid.

“Your Excellency, it is disheartening to note that Cooperative Societies for workers have died due to non-release of workers deductions to the societies and these are areas where workers look up to in time of need.

“The feeling of the entire workers is that of hopelessness, disenchantment, frustration and economic enslavement of highest order since they could no longer meet their social and family responsibilities.

“The meeting therefore resolved to appeal to the state government to pay up all the outstanding salaries and deduction without further delay; within a stipulated period of seven days from the receipt of this letter.

“Failure, the leaders of the Unions in the Public Service of the State may not be able to guaranty an industrial peace in the state.”

Meantime, Vanguard gathered that the state government has again invited the labour leaders to another round of meeting to avert the strike action.

Government officials assured that the meeting which was in progress as at the time of filling this report would resolve the issue over payment of deductions.