Workers’ unions in the Lagos State-owned media organisations, on Monday, embarked on a three-day warning strike in protest of non-payment of minimum wage.
The workers are also protesting non- inclusion in the state Oracle database for salary payment.
The workers, under the umbrella of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers’ Union (RATTAWU), Lagos State Broadcasting Corporation, shut down operations.
The workers comprised staff of Lagos Television, Radio Lagos/Eko FM and Lagos Traffic Radio.
They said that the strike had become imperative due to state government’s failure to meet their demands.
The workers, who walked around their various premises, sang solidarity songs for hours. They were also being entertained by a musical band.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the protesting workers carried placards with different inscriptions to press home their demands.
The inscriptions include: “Give us Oracle and take the revenue generated”, “Palliatives and subventions are not working”, “Oracle is the answer”, and “All we need is Oracle! Save our today and secure our future”.
The others are: ” Non-implementation of new minimum wage is anti-labour”, “Minimum wage, a must! Our sweat is drying up”, “Save us from career stagnation”, and “LTV, Radio Lagos, Traffic Radio are not liability, we are asset to the government”.
Speaking to newsmen, the Chairman of the Lagos State Council of NUJ, Mr Adeleye Ajayi, said that the media workers were demanding fair treatment and wages for being at the centre of promoting government policies.
He said that both the NUJ and RATTAWU had given different ultimatums and had exercised enough patience for the government to meet their demands.
Ajayi noted that the demands included payment of the new minimum wage and inclusion in the state’s Oracle database for salary payment.
“Both NUJ and RATTAWU are quite aware of this. We have given different ultimatums – a 10-day ultimatum, a 21-day ultimatum, and the last and final one was a seven-day ultimatum.
“I think these are ultimatums for the state government to accede to the requests of our members.
“Our members are very committed, they are very dedicated; they are very patriotic, they have no closing hours, and I think they should be well-remunerated.
“Our members should be integrated into the Oracle database. Oracle database is like the IPPIS system in the Federal Civil Service that creates a seamless way of paying workers’ salaries and other benefits,” Ajayi said.
According to him, the government should look into the issue of minimum wage which is being enjoyed by other state workers.
“Our workers here are not benefiting from the minimum wage like other state workers. Workers of the state broadcast corporations should benefit from the minimum wage.
“In the last three or five months, they have not benefited a dime from the minimum wage, and this should not be the case,” he said.
Ajayi said that the state government should be more media-friendly and attend to the needs of the media so that the media could further propagate its policies and activities.
He expressed the optimism that the state executive council would address the issues.
The Lagos State Chairman of RATTAWU, Mr Ishola Adejumo, said that workers deserved due wages.
Adejumo said that workers in the state-owned media workers had not been enjoying the N85,000 minimum wage approved by the state government.
Adejumo said: “This is premised on the fact that the running of these stations is based on IGR (Internally Generated Revenue).
“This determines what they will do with salaries and other expenses.
“To us, this is no longer sustainable.
“For the past 12 years or thereabout, we have been demanding for migration of the workers here to Oracle database to guarantee regular payment of workers’ salaries and other benefits, along with their counterparts in the ministries; yet this has not been done.
“We are calling on the government and all the agencies concerned to migrate workers here to Oracle. Once they migrate them, we disperse and every problem will be solved.”
According to him, if the government refuses to meet the workers demands after the warning strike, the unions will go on an indefinite strike.
“There is no retreat, no surrender,” Oladejumo said. (NAN)
