MINIMUM WAGE AND ARREARS OF SALARIES AND PENSIONS IN OSUN STATE
Oyetola/APC Government must stop the Ruse and Pay Workers and Retirees
After several demands and agitations for a new minimum wage, Osun State, among some other states, reluctantly agreed to pay the minimum wage of N30, 000 without any concrete plans for the commencement of its implementation.
By Abbey Falodun
Using a similar style of his predecessor, Oyetola/APC Government presented a salary structure which at its best gives an increase of a range of N2000 to N5000 to most of the worker in the State. Aside the fact that the N30,000 minimum Wage is belated and inflation has eroded its economic value, the criminal half-Salary and pensions, non-payments on promotions, non-remittance of deducted contributory pension, union dues and cooperative dues, amidst other attacks on the workers initiated by the previous government of Aregbesola is being maintained by the Oyetola government. Many retirees who are enrolled on the contributory pension scheme are being denied their entitlements and many retirees and their families have died due to their pension not being paid.
In December 2020, Oyetola/APC government, just like his predecessor, instead of paying the backlog arrears of the half-salaries and pensions, the government decided to divide the workers the more by paying one month of arrears of half-pension (out of over 30 months) for some categories of retirees in the state while others did not receive any payment. This move has further exposed the Oyetola/APC government as a continuation of the last administration of Rauf Aregbesola, an anti-worker and anti-people government. This same government that is claiming that it cannot pay the N30,000 Minimum Wage is wasting public resources on political officers through jumbo salaries and allowances. Just recently, the state government gave the chairpersons of local governments, who just ended their tenure, official cars to take home, among other perks of office. Yet, workers and retirees are made to go through hell to get just a fraction of their salaries, pensions and gratuities.
The workers and retirees in the state must be ready to fight for their Minimum Wage. If steps are not taken now to recover the backlog arrears of the half salaries and half pensions and also fight for the full implementation of the N30,000 Minimum Wage, the economic conditions of Osun state citizenry is bound to worsen as the Covid-19 crisis and inflation have already made nonsense of the workers’ take-home. We therefore call on the Labour Unions and their leaders to demand the full implementation of the minimum wage and payment of all wage and pension arrears.