Striking workers in Ekiti State on Sunday told Governor Ayodele Fayose to pay workers their salaries rather than engage in a solidarity strike with them.
“What we want is our money to alleviate our poverty,” said the chairman of the Trade Union Congress, Odunayo Adesoye.
Mr. Fayose had on Friday declared that he had placed himself on indefinite strike in solidarity with the workers who had been on strike for about two weeks over non-payment of five months outstanding salaries.
“We appreciate the governor for sharing our pains and anguish. But the workers will appreciate and commend him the more if he can pay at least two or three months salaries out of five months owed,” he said.
“Our situation has gone beyond the governor declaring mere solidarity strike. We need more of actions now than talks because our situation is gradually becoming hopeless.
“Some of us have the intention of going to work, but no money to pay for transport fare. Some of us could not take two square meal a day. Some could not cook soup with ordinary fish, so our situation has gone beyond what anyone could trivialize.”
Mr. Adesoye, however, noted that the striking workers were resolved to fight on, because it was an issue that borders on our welfare, careers and prosperity.
“We are hearing that the federal government want to give grants to states , so if Mr Governor could pay three months now, it will be easy to use the grant to pay the remaining two months and still help in paying for the subsequent months,” he said.
“We appeal to the workers to be law abiding. We want them to be civil, even in the face of provocation. By the grace of God, we shall all rejoice in the end.”
While explaining Mr. Fayose’s solidarity strike, his spokesperson, Lere Olayinka, revealed that all the commissioners, permanent secretaries and directors of ministries also joined the solidarity strike.
Mr. Olayinka said the solidarity strike would go on until the workers return to work, since Mr. Fayose and others will not be able to function if the state’s civil service is inactive.
“If he approves money, who’s going to process it? If he wants to award contract, can he do that alone?” the spokesperson said . “So what he’s saying is that he won’t bother getting the senior government officials to come to work since they also need the civil servants to work with them.”
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Ogbeni Rauf owed almost one year salaries even when fed allocation was much bigger. So Baba Fayose is right in embarking solidarity strike because the fed govt is currently not giving enough allocation to the state. APC govt lacks what it rakes to lead this great country.
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