Salary crisis: Ekiti NLC, TUC slam 10-year ban on ex-labour leaders

For allegedly spearheading a protest where they declared an indefinite strike on behalf of labour leaders without authorization, former Chairmen of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Ayodeji Aluko and Trade Union Congress, TUC, Kolawole Olaiya, have been barred from labour unionism for a period of ten years.

The joint session of Ekiti trade unions took the decision in Ado Ekiti on Monday at a congress presided over by the NLC Chairman, Comrade Ade Adesanmi and his counterpart in the TUC, Comrade Odunayo Adesoye and attended by representatives of all affiliate unions.

The workers also passed a vote of confidence on the leaderships of the two unions in the state, declaring the dissolution pronouncement made during the Thursday rally by the two former labour leaders as unconstitutional, null and void.

The workers frowned at how the duo of Olaiya and Aluko had led a protest to the State Secretariat on Thursday and chased workers out of their offices with cudgels.

Olaiya and Aluko, had on Thursday led a protest at the State Secretariat in Ado Ekiti, where they dissolved the State executive of the two trade unions for alleged compromise and inability to declare indefinite strike over non-payment of salary.

Addressing journalists after the congress, the NLC Chairman, Adesanmi called on the security agencies in the state to call the two ex-labour leaders to order, alleging that they were bent on destabilizing Ekiti to get political patronage from the incoming governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi.

“The illegal activities of the aforementioned ex-labour leaders acting under the guise of Ekiti Workers Rescue Team came to a climax on Thursday, August 23 when they gathered thugs and molested workers who were carrying out their legitimate and lawful duties.

“There is need to ask them whose interest were they protecting, because they didn’t act when workers were owed over eight month salaries. They have never engaged the government to pay pensioners but they only woke up after the July 14 governorship election.

“Sometimes ago, an administrative panel was set up by the outgoing government of Governor Ayodele Fayose against Comrade Aluko and found him guilty of participating in electioneering in 2015, which was against public servant. It was the same unions that intervened and ensured that he was pardoned.

“It is no more news that Comrade Aluko was promoted to the position of Director of Administration at the local government ahead of his seniors and the government looked at this and reverted him to the rightful position. It was clear that this ex-labour leader is aggrieved but must he hide under non-payment of salary to get at the government?

“How could labour leaders gather thugs and pronounced the entire labour structure dissolved. Were they State Executive Council of the labour unions? The two of them are not members of SEC, where now did they derive such powers.

“With their actions of recent, it is clear that they were only clearing coast for political appointments from the incoming government and not fighting the interest of workers.

“Following these, they are declared person-non-grata in labour circle and they are banned from labour activities for a period of ten years,” he said.

Meanwhile, Olaiya and Aluko could not be reached for comments on their ban from union matters, as their phones were switched off as at press time.