Labour picket Ekiti assembly over sack of 21 staff

The organised labour in Ekiti, Tuesday, protested the sack of 21 workers of the state House of Assembly.

The protest, led by labour leaders, was held within the premises of the assembly complex, where they castigated the Ekiti State Assembly Service Commission over the action.

Addressing the sacked workers, the secretary, Ekiti state Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), Comrade Gbenga Olowoyo said it was wrong for the Commission to have speedily sent the names of the affected workers to the Accountant General to stop their salaries while negotiations lasted.

He said: “We are here to express our rejection of the summary dismissal of these 21 staff of the House of Assembly. Though the Commission denied ever sacking anyone, which was not true.

“We learnt from good authority that they have forwarded their names to the Accountant General to stop their salaries while also denied access to the assembly complex despite being employed and put on the payroll for 10 years.

“We are not saying the Commission cannot audit its staff, but it has to be with human face. We are going to fight to the end. We are not afraid of victimisation. All the workers in the civil service will join them in solidarity. We are building careers here and we won’t allow any politician to destroy us.”

Also speaking, the secretaries of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Lawrence Kuloogun and that of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Taiwo Akinyemi, said the sack of the workers was not only inhuman but embarrassing to the workforce.

“This is an injustice, harassment and embarrassment of our workers. In Ekiti State University, we buried scores of our workers. The same happened at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital. This was because of sack but here in the Assembly, we are not ready to bury anybody,” he said.

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