From Rasaq Ibrahim, Ado Ekiti
The organised labour in Ekiti has threatened to mobilise its members for a statewide strike if the management of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) fails to shelve the planned mass disengagement of its workers.
The Union gave the EKSUTH’s management a 14-day ultimatum to find a way to resolve the issues surrounding the planned sack and effect payment of all outstanding salaries, deductions and other benefits to avert withdrawal of services by staff of the institution.
The unions said they were battle ready with their ‘armouries’ and ‘ammunitions’ for industrial war to protect and promote the interest of its members.
Chairmen of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Com Sola Adigun; his counterparts from Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Kolapo Olatunde and Joint Negotiating Council (NJC), Com Kayode Fatomiluyi, spoke in Ado Ekiti on Monday after a closed doors meeting with the hospital management staff.
Read Also: Lagos Assembly passes 2020 budget of N1.168t
This was coming barely three weeks after the Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, sacked over 900 workers for alleged irregular appointments, overage and other sundry allegations.
Adigun said rather than contemplating sack of any staff, the state government must look inwards and increase its internally generated revenue so that subvention to the health institution could be increased.
The TUC boss added that the organised labour would resist attempt to sack workers without following public service laid down rules , saying sack was not the best option to compensate staff that had made sacrifices for effective healthcare delivery in the hospital.
NLC Chairman, Olatunde, and his counterpart in JNC, Fatomiluyi, advised that government shouldn’t perceive sack as panacea to irregular payment of salaries.
Olatunde said: “Anything done contrary to the civil service rules will be resisted. Workers are responsible people and would not condone indiscipline, because EKSUTH has no good reason to sack anybody with what we heard.
“In EKSU, they employed people in 2018 and used them to get accreditation, only for them to be sacked later. They must be given fear hearing. Anything outside public service rule is not acceptable to us.”
The Chairman, Joint Health Sectors Union (JOHESU), Farotimi Omotola, disagreed with the rumour that EKSUTH was overbloated with staff, describing the hospital as grossly understaffed due to persistent brain- drain being experienced in all departments.
When contacted, EKSUTH Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Rolake Adewumi, said she had not been briefed by the hospital’s management on the matter.
Leave a Reply