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Tag: Ekiti workers

  • Labour leaders betrayed us, say Ekiti workers

    Labour leaders betrayed us, say Ekiti workers

    •NLC chair: it’s not true

    Workers in Ekiti State have accused Labour leaders of betraying them by agreeing to a one month pay out of the six months salary arrears owed them by the government.

    They described the failure of the union leaders to convince the government to pay at least three months’ salary as a “coup against the long-suffering workers who had endured misery, hunger and hardship in the last six months.”

    A statement yesterday by the Enlightened Workers’ Forum (EWF), an interest group, signed by the Coordinator, Mike Bamidele, said the workers alleged that they had evidence that the Labour leaders received N10 million bribe to end the strike.

    The body faulted the decision of the Labour leaders to suspend the strike and agree to a monthly payment of N10 million to pensioners, which it described as inadequate.

    It doubted the government’s capacity to access another bailout fund, following the stringent conditions attached to it.

    Bamidele said it was a mark of failure for the leaders of the state councils of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) to suspend the strike after being promised only one month pay by the government.

    He described as “very irresponsible”, a directive to the workers by one of the Labour leaders to resume work and await the payment of one month salary seven days after suspending the strike.

    The EWF boss revealed that the untold story of the saga was that “the Labour leaders only succeeded in negotiating their own welfare, as we have evidence that six of them collected N10 million, which eventually led to the sell-out, which is causing disaffection among other leaders, who were left out.”

    Bamidele said: “One wonders what gave Labour the impression that the Federal Government will again be willing to release another bailout fund to Governor Ayodele Fayose when the first one has not been accounted for.

    “This is a mark of failure on the part of the organised Labour and we in the EWF are not surprised about the development, as we anticipated this failure from the onset.

    “Against this background, therefore, it will be wrong and illegal for any Labour leader to attempt to coerce the workers back to work through the backdoor without achieving anything. Negotiating one month salary on their behalf after about five weeks strike is not only anti-worker, but also criminal.”

    The NLC Chairman, Ade Adesanmi, denied the allegation.

    He challenged anyone with evidence of bribery to prove it.

    Adesanmi: “I didn’t sign the pact with the government culminating in this resumption because I compromised. I signed because of the fear that this allocation might be spent without the payment of workers’ salary.

    “The same workers we fought for came to office during the strike to assist the government in spending the money that could have been kept and added to the present allocation to pay workers. This is the highest level of wickedness and posterity will judge all of us.”

     

     

  • Ekiti workers defy resumption order

    Ekiti workers defy resumption order

    •Accuse NLC leaders of collecting bribe

    Civil servants in Ekiti State yesterday shunned their offices, despite the suspension of a one-month strike to demand the payment of five months salary arrears.

    The strike was suspended last Friday after the government and Labour reached a seven-point agreement.

    Few workers reported for duty. Teachers stayed away, apparently on instruction of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT).

    Pupils in primary and secondary schools returned home.

    Boys played football. Others roamed the streets.

    Workers alleged that the Labour leaders had compromised, an allegation denied by the NLC Chairman, Ade Adesanmi.

    He challenged anyone with evidence to prove that he and other NLC leaders were bribed by the government.

    An interest group, the Enlightened Workers Forum (EWF), alleged that the Labour leaders were bribed with N10 million to agree with the government to pay one month salary and suspend the strike.

    In a statement yesterday by its Coordinator, Mike Bamidele, the body named the NLC leaders, who were allegedly bribed to stop the strike.

    EWF said it was wicked for “greedy union leaders to mortgage the interest of workers, who suffered hunger in the last six months, by agreeing to one-month salary, which cannot give them succour”.

  • Drivers, artisans protest against Ekiti workers’ strike

    Drivers, artisans protest against Ekiti workers’ strike

    •TUC chief: protesters suffering from ignorance

    Commercial drivers, motorcyclists and artisans protested yesterday on the streets of Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, against the ongoing strike by workers.

    The protesters expressed their support for Governor Ayo Fayose.

    Acting under the aegis of Concerned Trade Unions in Ekiti State, they described the strike as “politically motivated” and alleged that the labour leaders have been bribed with N25 million to destabilise Fayose’s government.

    The unions, which participated in the protest, include National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigerian (RTEAN), Nigeria Association of Cooperatives Transporters (NACT), Okada Riders’ Association, Nigeria Automobile Technicians Association (NATA) and Pick-Up and Lorry Owners’ Association.

    But Trade Union Congress (TUC) Chairman Odunayo Adesoye denied the allegation of bribery, saying the labour unions and workers don’t need to be bribed before fighting for their rights.

    Adesoye said the protesters, by their action, displayed illiteracy and ignorance and warned them against being used as thugs.

    TUC boss said: “What we are agitating for is our rights and we can’t wait for any political party to tell us when to take action.

    “The pensioners are dying every day, workers have become paupers and beggars. What we want is our money and nothing more. The drivers and artisans must reason along with us and stop displaying ignorance and illiteracy.”

    However, the protesters advised the labour leaders to suspend their strike and go back to the negotiation table to dialogue with the government in the interest of the people of the state who are affected by the action.

    The protesters, who carried placards, massed at Fajuyi Junction from where they marched through Okesa to Old Garage area to draw attention to their protest.

    Some of their placards read: “Strike is not an option in Ekiti”, “Ekiti NLC is on political strike”, “Fayose is working in Ekiti”, among others.

    RTEAN Chairman Samuel Agbede, who contended that the strike has a political undertone, accused the labour leaders of attempting to blackmail the government by asking the governor to channel his security vote and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to pay their salaries.

    Agbede argued that neighbouring states like Ondo, Osun and Oyo owe their workers without any strike action recorded.

    NURTW Chairman Clement Adekola accused the labour leaders of receiving N25 million bribe to destabilise the state, urging workers to explore the option of dialogue to resolve the dispute.

    NATA Chairman Babatope Alo said the workers should consider the fact that the situation was caused by dwindling allocation and that Fayose was not to blame.

  • APC hails Ekiti workers’ steadfastness on strike

    APC hails Ekiti workers’ steadfastness on strike

    •’Fayemi not to blame for inability to pay workers’

    EKITI State All Progressives Congress (APC) has hailed workers for their steadfastness in the ongoing indefinite strike to force Governor Ayo Fayose to pay their five-month salary arrears.

    The party faulted Fayose’s claim during his media chat last Friday that the debt left behind by his predecessor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, hampered him from paying workers’ salaries

    Fayose accused Fayemi of taking loans that would last till 2036 for full repayment.

    He said deductions from the Federal Allocation for debt payments had left the state with peanuts that are not even enough to pay salaries.

    But the APC said the workers and people of Ekiti have now seen Fayose’s real character, describing the allegation against Fayemi as wicked manipulation of the ignorance of the people to justify “an unconscionable and mindless treatment of Ekiti workers while he (Fayose) enjoys lavish life”.

    In a statement yesterday, the APC spokesman, Taiwo Olatunbosun, accused the governor of insincerity and using the people’s ignorance  to deceive workers over the state’s financial status.

    He said the governor had at different times given several figures as loans taken by Fayemi to deceive the people to hide his plans for the misapplication and misappropriation of Ekiti money.

    “Let us thank Governor Niyi Adebayo’s Commissioner for Finance, Bayo Aina, who foiled Fayose’s lie in 2003 when he (Aina) wrote to the House of Assembly of which I was a member, debunking Fayose’s claim that it would take 15 years to pay back the loan taken by Adebayo, which he first put at N5 billion and later increased to N8 billion,” the APC spokesman explained.

    He added that instead of alleged debt left by Adebayo, Fayose met surplus of N1.7 billion in 2003, but which he never explained to Ekiti people until the N1.3 billion poultry project fraud emerged over which he was impeached and was still facing criminal charges in court.

    “The Adewale Omirin-led House of Assembly approved for Fayose to take N2 billion Central Bank loan for artisans and small-scale traders. But up till now, he has not given one naira to anybody.

    “He deceived the workers that April federal allocation is N700 million even though the Federal Ministry of Finance figure as published in the newspapers indicated that Ekiti collected N1.08 billion and you wonder what the governor did to the balance of N300 million.

    “He has so far collected about N20 billion loans, which he would not disclose to Ekiti people. These include the N9.6 billion bailout cash and another N10 billion taken from another bank. He also denied collecting refunds on federal roads and misapplied N2 billion Ecological Fund cash, which he denied collecting for a long time until our party applied for FOI Law to get the fact in the Fund’s Office in Abuja.

    “He paid one month salary from N9.6 billion bailout and nobody knows what he did with the balance the same way that no one knows what he  does with the fresh N10 billion loan and the interest it generates in the secret account he keeps  the money after vowing several times never to borrow a naira to run his government.

    “Even as he continues to give inconsistent figures to workers as the state internally-generated revenue, including lying against the workers that they are part of revenue sharing after collection from Abuja. While Fayemi borrowed for development purposes, which can be seen in roads and other development structures across the state, Fayose keeps padding, spending Ekiti money on projects rehabilitation fraudulently over-priced and given to his friends and cronies while Ekiti workers suffer,” he explained.

    Describing as provocative Fayose’s habit of asking workers to bear with him in empty stomach while regularly taking his monthly N250 million security vote without funding the security agencies, Olatunbosun challenged the governor to publish the state audited accounts.

    He urged Fayose to publish the state’s internally generated revenue profile like Fayemi did periodically and stop blackmailing the former governor over “fraud-motivated instincts to exploit the ignorance of the people to a fraudulent advantage”.

  • Our lot better under Fayemi, say Ekiti workers

    Our lot better under Fayemi, say Ekiti workers

    Ekiti State workers yesterday said they fared better under former Governor Kayode Fayemi.

    They alleged poor welfare conditions occasioned by non-payment of their salaries and other entitlements.

    Acting under the aegis of Enlightened Workers Forum (EWF), they claimed that the Yuletide was “the worst for workers in the history of Ekiti” as many of them celebrated the holidays in hunger.

    The EWF, in a statement yesterday by its Coordinator, Mike Bamidele, said workers enjoyed salary increase at least three times during the Fayemi administration besides other incentives such as promotion, special Christmas/New Year allowances, among others.

    Fayemi, according to them, “gave substantial Christmas bonuses to all workers, which started from 10 per cent of basic salaries in his first year to 30 per cent in the fourth year”.

    The EWF recalled that during negotiations leading to the N19,250 minimum wage being enjoyed in the state, it was believed that the Federal Government would increase allocations to states but this was not to be as states began having problems with payment of salaries.

    They said the ex-governor in agreement with labour leaders adopted the option of paying net salaries and differing deductions till when there would be special releases but the organised labour did not carry workers along on the decision “hence the blackmail that followed”.

    The statement said: “Fayose has never increased salary in the history of his governance of Ekiti State, rather he is known for inciting the people of the state against the workers.

    “We had no doubt found ourselves in a situation whereby the Awo free education legacy had been destroyed in Ekiti State, as pupils in primary and secondary schools have to pay fees.

    “Now artisans and various trade groups groan under the burden of heavy tax. May God save workers from the pains they are going through. The benefits of the Fayemi administration were enormous.”

  • Resumption: Ekiti workers shun offices

    Some government workers in Ekiti State did not show up for work yesterday.

    Activities were at the lowest ebb at Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as many of the workers stayed away.

    At the secretariat, old Governor’s Office, new Governor’s Office, House of Assembly complex and other government buildings, very few workers reported for duty.

    There were few cars in the parking lots. Many doors in the offices were locked.

    The absenteeism also involved senior civil servants who were not at their desks. Some of them who reported in the morning left before noon.

    Workers’ absence may not be connected with unpaid salary arrears by the government.

    Most civil servants are owed two months arrears. Primary school teachers are owed up to three months arrears.

    A worker said: “We should not be blamed for not showing up at work because we are not happy with the trend of events in the state and the motivation is not there.

    “I had called my oga this morning to tell him that I won’t come to office today and tomorrow because there is no money at all.

    “Times are hard, morale is low and things are difficult for us so the government should understand our plight. The Christmas was very bleak for us but we thank God for good health.

    “Many of us are concerned about January because our children will be resuming school and you know what that means.”

  • Ekiti workers: we won’t accept payment in batches

    Ekiti workers: we won’t accept payment in batches

    EKITI State workers have said they will not accept payment of their salaries in batches.

    The workers told Governor Ayo Fayose during his interface with them in the 16 local governments.

    Workers at the forum in Igede-Ekiti, Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area, suggested that the government could merge two months’ allocations to pay them once.

    The governor, has allayed workers’ fear that they may not receive November salary on time for Christmas.

    The governor, at his monthly media chat, “Meet Your Governor”, said core civil servants would not be paid in the next batch.

    He added that the payment would cover only workers in state-owned tertiary institutions.

    Fayose assured workers at the weekend that his administration would not slash the minimum wage, despite the state’s financial challenges.

    He said government was considering decentralising payment of salaries to ensure a smooth process.

    The governor, however, added that the government and labour unions would agree on the mode of payment.

    Fayose said: “I won’t reduce salaries. The N18,000 minimum wage is not even enough. I will never hold your money one extra day. The shortfall in the bailout fund will be redressed.”

    The governor said a unit would be set up in the Governor’s Office to look into complaints on workers’ welfare.

    He promised that when the Federal Government releases the balance of the bailout funds, pensioners would be paid.

  • 80 per cent of Ekiti workers not yet paid

    Over 80 per cent of Ekiti State workers have not been paid, a group, Enlightened Workers’ Forum (EWF), has said.

    It lamented the delay in the payment of the April salary.

    The group expressed anger that the ongoing verification by the government has brought untold hardship and inflicted more misery on workers.

    The EWF said over 80 per cent of workers, who had undergone the verification, have not received their April salary.

    In a statement by its Coordinator, Mike Bamidele, the group said government’s promise to ensure immediate payment of workers who had undergone the exercise was a ruse.

    It said: “Ekiti State workers are silently licking the wounds of poverty, hardship, want and hunger inflicted on them by the delay caused by the so-called verification.”

    The EWF regretted that workers have been deceived and conned by the government, which it accused of hiding under the guise of verification to deny them their rights.

    The group expressed regrets that labour unions which are supposed to fight for workers’ rights have been muzzled and pocketed.

    The EWF urged workers to take their destiny in their hands by taking a “radical action” to ensure that they receive their pay.

    The statement said: “Workers in Ekiti State have been fooled, conned and deceived by government, which is using the so-called verification exercise to deny them of their legitimate income.

    “Government’s promise that each worker who has completed the process of verification would their salary was a ruse after all.

    “The promise raised our hope but little did we know that we would be shocked by this failed promise because as we speak, over 80 per cent of verified workers are yet to receive their salary.

    “We want to ask: why the delay? Why the selective payment of salary? What are the criteria the government is using to determine who gets paid? What is the offence of the majority who are yet to be paid? God save Ekiti workers.”

    “These are the questions the labour unions must ask from the government but it is a pity that Ekiti labour leaders are timid, docile, myopic, selfish and have become appendages of the government. God save Ekiti workers.”

  • We’ve not been paid, say Ekiti workers

    We’ve not been paid, say Ekiti workers

    Some civil servants in Ekiti State, who have done the verification ordered by Governor Ayo Fayose, said they have not been paid.

    The workers, many of whom were subjected to harrowing long hours on queues at designated venues of the verification, complained that their hopes of early pay after they had undergone the exercise had been dashed.

    A civil servant, who pleaded for anonymity, said the government’s failure to pay them immediately after the verification had further demoralised them.

    But Fayose explained that the verification was to fish out ghost workers.

    He spoke at the inauguration of suggestion boxes at the Governor’s Office in Ado-Ekiti.

    In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, the governor said many of these ghost workers had either died, retired from the service or travelled out of the country.

    “Is it not interesting to hear that names of some students are on the payroll of the government? I am appealing to the workers to support the government to expose these cheats.”

    On the insecurity in the state, the governor said: “I did not lay kidnapping on the doorsteps of anybody or party because I don’t want to be distracted in the effort we are making to arrest the situation and rescue the victims.

    “Everybody must join hands with the government to fight these criminals.

    “I am to secure lives and properties of Ekiti people who elected me as their governor.

    “No matter what anybody says or interpretation is given to our actions, I will not be distracted.”

  • We won’t participate in politically-motivated strike – Ekiti workers

    A section of workers in Ekiti State public service has vowed not to participate in any politically-motivated strike intended to drag them into the politics of impeachment currently rocking the state.

    Acting under the aegis of Enlightened Workers’ Forum, they asked for the payment of outstanding salaries, bonuses and other entitlements owed them by the state government.

    In a statement issued on Friday by the Forum’s Coordinator, Mike Bamidele, they warned Labour leaders against colluding with politicians to engineer a strike to frustrate the impeachment proceedings already launched by the 19 All Progressives Congress lawmakers in the state.

    They called on the state councils of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiation Council (JNC) to concentrate on fighting for the interests of the workers rather than dabbling into partisan politics.

    The Forum called on the unions to drop the garb of politics and exert pressure on the Ayo Fayose administration to pay worker’ salaries, leave bonus and accumulated pensions and gratuities of retirees.

    It further charged the unions to champion the implementation of 2013 and 2014 outstanding promotions.

    The Forum also warned the state government against reducing workers’ salaries over shortfall in allocation from the Federation Account.