Governor Ibikunle Amosun

A pro-democracy group, the Campaign for Good Governance, has lauded the Ogun State Government for resolving the recent industrial dispute with labour unions in the State.

While praising the administration of Governor Ibikunle Amosun for resisting immense pressure from some segments of the populace to downsize or reduce the salaries of its workforce in order to free more funds for the overall development of the state, it commended the labour unions for appreciating the economic realities of the country and the need to finally back down on their demands and sheathe their swords.

According to a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Mr Ganiyu Lasisi, the Campaign for Good Governance noted that “while we rue the decision of the Amosun Government to implement the Minimum Wage across board in 2011/12, which ballooned the monthly wage such that the worker in Ogun State earns more than its counterpart in any part of the federation, we believe it will be improper to slash the take-home or reduce the workforce giving the economic downturn of the country.”

“By the same token, while it continues to receive its monthly salary as and when due, it will amount to gross insensitivity for the workforce, whose number is less than one per cent of the population of Ogun State, to insist that all its demands have to be met when the State whose monthly wage bill is over seven billion naira now receives about one billion naira from the Federation Account. The mere fact that Ogun State continues to pay salaries where many states are unable to do so should constitute some food for thought.”

The Group “therefore commends the labour leaders for their appreciation of the facts and figures presented by the Government and calls on the workers to maintain industrial harmony so that the State can weather the current financial storm across the country.”

“Finally, we appeal to the Ogun State Government to reconsider its implementation of ‘no work, no pay’ rule it invoked in the wake of the last strike as demanded by labour during its last meeting with the unions, especially now that the leaders of the workers have seen no need for any further industrial action,” the statement concluded.