Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has assured workers that his administration would sustain its cordial relationship with Labour Unions in the state.
The existing friendly relationship, he said, has helped to enhance the growth, progress and development of the state.
The governor said this while addressing the state leadership and members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) at the frontage of the Governor’s Office, Ibadan.
This was as the state chairman of the NLC, Comrade Kayode Martins, said the workers had apologised to the governor.
He also said most of their demands had actually been addressed since last week when workers were not at work.
Makinde expressed regrets that the protest by the workers affected the revenue of the state.
He therefore warned Labour Unions in the state not to allow anyone to come in between the government and the workers.
He further said that henceforth his administration would be holding quarterly parley with the Labour Unions.
Makinde said the parley would bring the government and the unions on the same page and ensure that their agitations were addressed without confrontations and protests.
“I have engaged with your leaders and we have discussed. They begged me that some of these things that happened were not supposed to have happened.
“I also begged them that if there was anything that I did wrong, it is our state, governors will come and go.
“Five years ago, I was not here and in three years and some months to come, I will not be here as the governor, but our state will remain.
“So, in everything that we do, let us remember that it is our state. We don’t have anywhere else that we can call home. Anyone that wants to draw water from the well should not pollute that well.
“There are people who don’t want progress for our state. They will try to come in between you and I.
“But I have promised that every quarter, we will be having a parley with the leadership of the labour unions.
“We will ensure we close the gap between the government and the labour,” Makinde said.
Speaking shortly after the governor’s address, the NLC chairman, Martins thanked the governor for addressing the workers personally.
He affirmed that the governor had attended to some of their agitations and also directed the leadership of the unions to resume to the table to discuss other issues.
Martins said four months’ deductions of their salaries had been paid, while the governor had assured that the remaining two months deductions would be paid with August salary.
He further said the outstanding promotion letters of 2021 for workers were ready for collections, while pensioners too would continue to receive the payments of their gratuities by August ending.
“As you can see, the physical address by the governor goes a long way in changing the minds of everybody.
“We are all happy today and I can tell you that, once again, he has proved himself to be a governor that is workers-friendly. So, we appreciate the gesture from His Excellency.
“He has attended to some of our agitations and gave us his words that we should resume to the table to negotiate for the remaining part.
“On the deductions, the government has paid four months’ deductions, but simply because we were not on duty, we could not receive the alert.
He has said after that four, by the end of this month, the two remaining deductions will be paid to public workers in the state.
“On our outstanding promotions of 2021, they have typed the letters but we could not dispatch them last week as a result of the strike.
“But now that they have resumed, we are believing that the letters will be rolled out.
“As per gratuity, he also promised that by the end of this month, the state government will begin to pay.
“We are demanding for other things but he has said we should come to the table for negotiation to work things out for the benefit of all.
“Kudos to the SSG, who summoned a meeting yesterday (Sunday). We have come out with how we are going to be meeting quarterly, whether the governor is around or not.
“We believe it is an achievement for us and we appreciate it,” the Oyo NLC chairman said.
