No going back, we’ll meet with only Gov Abiodun – Ogranized Labour insists
The Organized Labour in Ogun State has said there is no going back on their indefinite strike until the state government resolves the issues surrounding the Contributory Pension Scheme.
They insisted on meeting with Governor Dapo Abiodun directly, saying no other official would be accepted to serve as a representative in the ongoing negotiations.
The union leaders, which consist of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), and the Joint Negotiation Committee (JNC), stated this while briefing newsmen on the reason behind the strike on Tuesday.
DAILY POST reports that the workers had embarked on an indefinite strike following the non-remittance of the contributory pension funds. They also demanded the suspension of the state pension reform law, saying that it has failed in its objective, as successive governments in the past 17 years have failed to remit over N82 billion.
The union explained that it is not embarking on a trade dispute to cripple the economy but is only fighting for their rights.
State Chairman of NLC, Comrade Hameed-Benco Ademola, noted that several letters and engagements with government officials at multiple times have yielded no results.
Hameed-Benco disclosed that previous engagements with the government gave hope that the administration would scrap the scheme, lamenting that the issue resurfaced during the May 1st Workers’ Day Celebration, leaving workers disappointed.
He said, “That bill has no future. It has failed from day one. We have written several letters, engaged government officials at multiple forums, yet nothing has changed. This scheme should never apply to workers who were already in service before its introduction in 2008.
“We thought we had convinced the key players, and they agreed to revisit the scheme. But during the May Day celebration, it was clear that nothing had changed. This is unacceptable.
“They’ve started calling us for meetings, but we are not attending any meeting unless it is with the governor himself. No commissioner, no head of service. We want to meet the one who approves our salaries — the governor.”
Akeem Lasisi, the chairman of the State’s Trade Union Congress, also pointed out that the Contributory Pension Scheme was a failure from the start, stating that Dapo Abiodun has never paid a dime, while former governors Gbenga Daniel and Ibikunle Amosun paid up until a certain point before they began to default.
“The scheme failed from conception, right from the tenure of Governor Gbenga Daniel. He owed us a few months before he left. Governor Ibikunle Amosun came in, he started paying the money and paid for just only nine months before he started defaulting.
“Then came the tenure of the current governor, Dapo Abiodun, CON. He has not paid a kobo into that scheme. Now, the law states that the money deducted from workers’ salaries must be paid within seven working days. Fourteen years and still counting, the government of Ogun State has not remitted the money into the retirement savings accounts of individual workers.”
The JNC Chairman, Isa Olude, urged the state government to pay what it owes before commencing the implementation of the scheme, adding that all channels used to communicate their grievances were not effective. “They are not ready to listen to us,” he said.
No going back, we’ll meet with only Gov Abiodun – Ogranized Labour insists
