Osun state has witnessed a standstill in the operations of several government agencies as a result of the Nigeria Labour Congress‘s warning strike, which was prompted by the prevailing economic hardships.
Observers noted that the entrance gate of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, was shut, with workers being unable to enter the premises.
Akin to other affected locations, the secretariat of the local government areas in the state appeared vacant, with only a small number of workers present in the vicinity.
‘We are part of the strike and we are critical stakeholders as far as NLC is concerned.’
‘Presently, in compliance with the NLC directive, we are mandated to embark on a warning strike which started today and will continue tomorrow. As you can see, the whole place is under lock. Nobody is coming in and as time goes on, we are going to be reviewing our activities at the level of our actions.’
‘So far from our end, we have total compliance’, he added.
However, it was noted that a few employees were present in different offices at the State Government Secretariat in Osogbo.
Modupe Oyedele, the NLC Caretaker Chairman, pointed out that these workers were members of the Trade Union Congress, TUC, and had chosen not to join the warning strike.
‘There is strict compliance to the warning strike under the umbrella of NLC, all the affiliate unions joined the strike.’
‘Our demand is about the hike over the PMS which is making the lives of Nigerians to be somehow difficult due to the removal of subsidy. Another one is the interference of FG in the NURTW crisis whereby the national secretariat of the body was taken over.’
‘There are some union affiliates that are not under NLC, they did not join, and TUC did not join.’
‘All the local government areas workers joined the strike. Every workforce under the NLC is in full compliance with the strike action’, she said.