• Traditional Rulers Seek End To Doctors’ Strike
The Organised Labour in Ekiti State has directed workers to proceed on a three-day warning strike beginning from Monday, August 3, over unresolved issues surrounding their unpaid salaries and other benefits.
This is as the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers has appealed to medical doctors currently on strike in the state to return to work, saying that would provide the conducive environment for the resolution of the dispute.
The impending strike, according to the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), was to pressure Governor Kayode Fayemi to pay the outstanding salaries, allowances and pension arrears of their members.
The directive was contained in a statement jointly signed by the Chairmen of the NLC, Kolapo Olatunde; TUC, Sola Adigun and JNC, Kayode Fatomiluyi, yesterday.
The statement read in part: “Fellow workers, the state government is yet to attend to any of our requests such as a financial promotion for the years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 yet to be implemented. There is no commitment to all outstanding deductions such as cooperative money, loan repayment to banks, housing fund and so on; leave bonuses for five years. In fact, pensioners are suffering. Hazard allowance for COVID-19 to health workers, many months of salary arrears and deductions yet to be paid.
Workers are suffering. Minimum Wage and consequential adjustment have now become an abandoned project and mirage.
“Following from the above, the strike action will commence from 12:00 am on Monday, August 3, 2020, except government attends to our demands.
“No worker should go to work or listen to any directive from any quarters, except for the leadership of the organised labour in Ekiti State.”
The doctors, under the umbrella of National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners (NAGGMDP), have been on strike since the past three weeks.
They accused the government of neglecting the health sector and depriving the people at the grassroots of having access to quality health care delivery.
The Chairman of the State Traditional Council and the Alawe of Ilawe Ekiti, Oba Adebanji Ajibade Alabi, however, noted that the strike by the doctors would take a toll on health care delivery in the state if not quickly resolved.
The monarch recalled that he had personally intervened in the dispute twice, adding that all hands must be on deck to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and other ailments presently affecting the people of the state.
Oba Alabi stated that the state Governor Fayemi would appreciate their cooperation at this critical period, urging them to give the royal fathers the opportunity to wade into the issues involved in the dispute in the interest of the people.
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