Workers of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education (EACOED), Oyo, have called on the state government to pay their outstanding salary arrears of 16 months without further delay.
Staff of the institution owned by the Oyo State Government on Tuesday, took to the streets of Ibadan and marched to the State Secretariat, to register their grievances over the non-payment of their salaries by the Senator Abiola Ajimobi-led government.
DAILY POST recalls that students from the six institutions owned by the state government last week protested against the continued strikes embarked upon by workers in the institutions due to issues that border on non-payment of salaries, workers’ welfare, among others.
But, the workers while demanding immediate payment of their outstanding salaries also urged the state government to ensure that their entitlements are paid in full every month.
The workers while speaking also urged the state government not to contemplate in sacking any of the workers in the institution.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards displayed by the angry workers read, “Do not sack any of us in order to reduce unemployment”, “Council be careful, Stop Misrepresenting Government”.
Others read, “Use Bail out to pay our salary arrears”, “Mass Sack is Illegal and Anti-Masses”, “100% Salary is Not Negotiable”, “We are tired of EACOED council and management”.
The workers also decried the failure of the governing council of the institution to be plain with the state government about their inadequacies in addressing the issues.
Chairman, Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), EACOED, Oyo chapter, Mr. Segun Oyewumi, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said the strike, which began on June 24, 2018, had lasted long enough, calling on the state government to clear the outstanding arrears and pay its salary 100 percent so that the strike can be called off.
He said, “Our children are out of school, our staffs are dying. The Oyo State Government should pay the outstanding arrears of 16 months salaries and continually pay our salary in full.
“The attitude of the governing council is dragging the name of the Oyo state government into the mud. We had agreement with the governing council in February on payment of salary in full and continual payment of salary till the arrears are defrayed.
“The agreement was honoured from January to April. We had 57 percent in May, 56.5 percent in June and nothing more. Instead of the council to tell the government of their inability to pay, they want to force us to work with obnoxious policies. We have been on strike since June 24 and the council has been unable to find a solution to the problem. We have been in an out of strike since January 2016″.
However, the State Deputy Governor, Mr. Moses Adeyemo, sought the understanding of the staff, noting that the state government had shown desire to resolve the issue with its recent increase of the subvention of EACOED from N53 million to N101 million.
Adeyemo urged the striking workers to return to work and be optimistic that the government will ensure that full salaries are paid regularly and outstanding arrears are cleared.
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