Labour unions in Ondo State have issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Rotimi Akeredolu, Governor of Ondo State, to offset the backlog of salaries and arrears of civil servants in the state or face industrial action.
They accused the governor of silence on receiving the state’s share of the Paris Club Refund.
The unions expressed disappointment over the attitude of the state government towards the plight of workers in the state.
Last week, the state government had confirmed the receipt of the sum of N20 billion from the Federal Government as its own share of the Paris Club Refund.
However, the unions addressed a letter to the governor to show their displeasure over the arrears, and it was signed by the State Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Tayo Ogunleye, Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Soladoye Ekundayo, and Chairman of the Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), Mr. Abel Oloniyo.
In the letter, they threatened that if by 12pm on Tuesday November 13, 2018, the governor failed to offset the outstanding salaries, business activities will be shut down at the governor’s office.
The letter read: “We believe that negotiation and agreement with labour was the key criteria of how the fund was released, despite that the fund has been released to the state without consulting labour.
“We humbly refer Your Excellency to the agreement between labour and the state government before the suspension of our industrial action of 30th June 2016.
“Furthermore, we want to draw the attention of His Excellency to the recommendations of a committee on payment of six-month arrears of salary to Ondo State workers set up by the state government that was submitted to Your Excellency in May 2017.
“We also hold that the said agreement subsists between labour and the government of Ondo State, irrespective of who holds the mantle of leadership, particularly when the state Head of Service remains the signatory to both the agreement and the committee report.
“In view of the above, we call on the government to please pay in line with out agreement as analyzed in our letter under reference on or before 12 noon on Tuesday, 13th of November, 2018.
“Failure on the part of government to accede to our request may not not be able to guarantee industrial peace by resuming our suspended strike of 30th June, 2016.”
