The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joint Public Service Negotiating Councils (JPSNC), and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), of Osun state on Monday dissociated the Unions from the protests embarked upon by a group of people in the state which the group claimed was over unpaid salaries.
The Unions after calling off the six weeks industrial action in the state on Monday used the opportunity to condemn the protests in its entirety and described the protests as “politically motivated.”
The Chairman of JPSNC, Comrade Bayo Adejumo and the NLC chairman, Comrade Jacob Adekomi answering questions from journalists after signing a Memorandum of Understanding to end the industrial strike, said it was important for them to tell the world that the strike was not their idea.
Adejumo noted that all the protests were sponsored by some fifth columnists in the state who saw the good opportunity in the issue of the non-payment of salary to tarnish the image of the Aregbesola-led government.
He also added none of the known Labour unions in the state participated or sponsored any of such protests.
According to him, “We were not part of any protests neither did we sponsor one, as an organised work force we are aware of the constraints of the government hence the understanding we entered to call off the strike to allow for staff personal verification to determine the actual strength of the state work force.
“As at the time that we embarked on the industrial action, it was assumed that we have no other choice than to embark on the strike despite our understanding of the state of funds in the state.
“All the purported protests by some faceless human rights groups are aimed at tarnishing the image of the government.
“They were sponsored and the state work force did not participate or organise any, all we did was to order our members to embark on industrial strike and at no time did any of the unions called it’s members out for protest rally”
He advised workers in the state to remain steadfast and committed to their work, adding that no worker will be penalised or victimised for their stay at home while the strike action lasted.
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