The chairman, Senior Civil Servants, Oyo State chapter, Kolawole Badmus, on Monday, took a swipe at some civil servants under the Oyo State government’s employ for reporting on duty despite the stay-at-home circular in compliance with the ongoing nationwide strike, describing them as “saboteurs in the civil service”.

This was just as the chairmen of the Trade Union Congress and the Nigeria Labour Congress in Oyo, Kayode Martins and Bosun Olabiyi-Agoro, directed its members within the state’s secretariat to stay at home in strict compliance with the strike.

Speaking to newsmen, the state TUC chairman, Bosun Olabiyi-Agoro, said the directive was in line with the national leadership mandate to have its cardinal points addressed by the theTinubu-led administration, and bringing down the prevailing inflation and undue economic policies.

The TUC chairman urged Governor Seyi Makinde, whom he described as a worker-friendly governor, to speak with his colleagues across the country and jointly appeal to President Tinubu to accede to the worker-public demand as a matter of urgency to call off the just-begun indefinite strike.

It was observed that commercial banks and public school teachers in the state complied with the strike as public schools were shut.

Also, the protest by the labour union at the Ladoke Akintola Airport disrupted activities at the airport, though officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were on the ground to forestall any breakdown of law and order.

The state NLC chairman, Martins, maintained that compliance and enforcement of the order would be sustained until the government did what was necessary for workers and the public.

Speaking, Martins said, “They should just do the right thing as per negotiations on the minimum wage. They are not sensitive to the plight of the people. As of today, the government is still talking of N60,000 as a living wage. When we asked for N615,000, we gave them a breakdown of how we arrived at N615,00, but they put N48,000 on the table.

“We asked them, please can you justify your N48,000, what goes for menu, health, and so forth? But they couldn’t. And we also asked them to revert the hike in electricity, among others.”

In another development, a chieftain of the New Nigeria People’s Party, Olufemi Oguntoyinbo, has called on Tinubu to consent to the labour leaders’ new minimum wage request and save the country from imminent collapse.

Ajadi on Monday said the demand of N494,000 minimum wage by the labour union was not unconnected with the realities of today’s economy.

He added that the sudden withdrawal of subsidy on petroleum products and the attendant increase of prices of foodstuffs and essential commodities had made the labour unions’ demand reasonable, saying that prolonged strike might finally collapse the economy.

Ajadi also cautioned against the use of threats against labour leaders, as such might aggravate the already tense situation in the country.

“Government should not threaten the Labour Leaders with imprisonment or with any form of threat at all,” Ajadi said.

It will be recalled that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) had warned that the labour leaders might risk imprisonment if they proceeded with the strike.

Fagbemi said Section 18 of the Trade Disputes Act requires workers employed in essential services to give their employer 15 days’ notice before ceasing their services.

Those who do not comply are liable to a fine or six months’ imprisonment. (The PUNCH)

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