Organised Labour Suspends Strike In Kogi

The Organised Labour in Kogi State has suspended the industrial action it started on September 22, 2017.

It announced the decision on Friday after reaching a deal with the state government over its demands.

After a meeting in the office of the Deputy Governor of Kogi State, the chairman of Kogi State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Onu Edoka, said labour and government pledged honour the agreements reached.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Kogi State Deputy Governor, Akor Sylvester, said in a statement that agreements, signed after much consultations, would ensure lasting peace between the workers and government.

Both parties agreed “That the payment of salary and pension to workers and pensioners respectively for the month of August 2017 would be full and comprehensive i.e All cleared staff including the pardoned staff and the Omitted/New retirees will be pay-rolled and paid their full month salary and pension respectively on or before Friday 17th November, 2017, while all cases of arrears of salaries and pensions will be scheduled for payment as funds are available based on the understanding between Labour and Government.”

They also agreed that the report of the screening exercise carried out by the government along with detailed analysis of the fully cleared and un-cleared workers in ministries, departments and agencies in the state would be made available to labour within two weeks.

Another agreement is “that the ‘clock- in and out’ machines, which government instituted as Electronic Attendance Register would be test-run for the next three months starting from 10th November 2017, and ending 10th February, 2018, during which its efficiency and functionality will be determined by a committee comprising government and organised Labour representatives”.

On PAYE, it was agreed by the parties that government should execute the PAYE within the confines of the existing law.

It was also agreed that all cases of arrears of promotions of 2013 be released to the beneficiaries immediately, while the process for promotions for 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 be put in place. More so, that the Annual Leave Bonus and Annual Increment should be scheduled in line with the availability of funds.

Organised labour in Kogi State had declared the strike in September after issuing a seven-day ultimatum to the state government to meet the demands of the workers.

The demands included the full payment of salary arrears and allowances to workers, yearly incremental allowances and reinstatement of workers disengaged after a screening exercise.

The plight of pensioners was also cited as a reason for the strike with labour leaders saying they were going through trauma as a result of their inability to meet financial obligations.