Ekiti NULGE rejects strike suspension, pulls out of NLC

A crisis of confidence has hit the Ekiti State
chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress as the
Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees
on Monday suspended its affiliation indefinitely.

Rising from an emergency State Executive
Council meeting in Ado Ekiti, the NULGE
directed its members in Efon Alaye Local
Government to continue with the strike until
the harassment and assaults on workers by
political thugs stopped.
The union said, henceforth, it would not be part
of all the programmes and activities of the NLC.

The union in a communique signed by its state
Chairman, Mr. Bunmi Ajimoko, and Secretary,
Mr. Muyiwa Cole, said it was forced to take the
hard decision after reviewing “the process
leading to the abrupt and controversial
suspension of the popular workers’ action.”

The NLC had on Friday suspended the 30-day-
old strike after signing a Memorandum of
Understanding with the state government.

A member of NULGE told our correspondent
that the labour leaders that signed the
agreement departed from the generally agreed
conditions by the labour unions in the state.

The union expressed shock, dissatisfaction and
utter disappointment about the way the strike
ended which it said contradicted the resolution
of the affiliate unions in the NLC, including
NULGE.

NULGE insisted on the payment of two months’
salaries and 2014 leave bonus in order to pacify
its members.

“NULGE observed that government has
jettisoned the implementation of the
agreement it signed on the deployed local
government workers of primary and secondary
schools.

“Government is hereby advised to abide with
the implementation of the agreement it
willingly entered into in order to sustain
industrial harmony.

“NULGE rejects in its entirety the apology of the
NLC chairman, Mr. Ade Adesanmi, sent through
the NULGE state chairman as belated as his
roles and actions concerning the strike are
premeditated.

“NULGE hereby suspends indefinitely its
affiliation to the NLC in Ekiti State and
dissociates itself from all its programmes and
activities.”
Meanwhile, only few workers resumed work on
Monday despite the suspension of the strike by
the NLC.

Public Primary school pupils were seen
returning to their various homes barely one and
half hours after getting to their schools as the
teachers failed to resume
But the state chairman of the Nigeria Union of
Teachers, Samuel Akosile, in an interview with
our correspondent, said the union would comply
with the decision to suspend the strike.

“Since the NLC has suspended the strike, all
teachers must comply with it because it was not
the NUT that called for the strike in the first
place,” he said.