Civil servants in Osun State are at the moment divided over the directive given by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, directing workers in the state to resume work after weeks of strike action.
The Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, has insisted that teachers in the state would defy the directive and continue with the strike embarked on over nonpayment of their salaries.
This was disclosed by the Chairman of the NUT in the state, Mr. Wakeel Amudah, after a meeting in Osogbo.
According to Amudah, teachers would continue with the strike because the state government had violated the Memorandum of Understanding signed with labour leaders on Monday by paying them 50 per cent of their Januray salaries.
It will be recalled that the state government had promised to pay workers January and Febryary salaries, prompting workers in the state to suspend their strike action. They were however paid only 50 percent of the salaries.
The NLC, reacting to government’s failure to pay in full, ordered workers to resume strike on Tuesday evening only to reorder them to resume work on Wednesday, saying they had been given an assurance that the government would pay their salaries in full.
Amudah said: “Teachers cannot resume with just 50 per cent of January salary. The NLC officials did not officially tell us that the strike has been lifted. We are going to continue with the strike, all teachers will remain at home until the months’ salaries agreed upon are paid.
“We have our own union because of the peculiarity of teachers in the state. Our teachers get transferred from time to time, and they would need money to transport themselves. We have to even convince them to agree to the two months.”
Speaking in the same vein, the Principal Secretary of NUT in the state, Mr. Mohammed Abdulahi, said teachers would not resume work, adding that the state government did not show sincerity with the payment of half salary.
He said: “The Osun State wing of Nigeria Union of Teachers is not backing out from the strike despite the directive of the Nigeria Labour Congress that all workers should resume work.
“The union observed that, as against the spirit of the agreement, the state government only paid half of a month’s salary to our teachers instead of two months. The NUT has resolved to continue with the strike until the agreement signed by the government is honoured.
“Consequently, any directive by any arm of labour directing that workers should resume work should be ignored, since that will be against the content and tenets of the MOU signed.”
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