The leadership of the Joint Labour Movement in Osun State has rejected the staff audit proposed by the state government, demanding proper briefing on the excercise.
The position of the labour leaders was sequel to circulation of forms among workers by a consulting firm hired by the state government for the purpose of counting the number of workers on its payroll.
The leadership of the Joint Labour Movement, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress in the state, rising from a meeting, said it was rejecting the excercise due to the hardship experienced by workers and pensioners in the past, after such an audit.
In a letter to the Head of Service, the labour leaders said, “At the end of the emergency meeting of the above Labour centres comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress, and the Joint Negotiating Council, which deliberated extensively on a purported 2023 Staff Audit Forms in circulation among the workers of Osun State, resolved as follows:
“That the Joint Labour Movement in the state rejects in its entirety, the circulation of the purported illegal forms by Sally Tibbot Consulting.
“That, considering the past experiences of Osun workers in exercises of this nature, the entire Joint Labour Movement in the state totally rejects any form of contractual agreement or consultancy service(s) that will further bring untold hardship on the workers and pensioners of Osun State.”
Commenting further on the issue during an interview with The PUNCH on Thursday, the state TUC Chairman, Adebowale Adekola, said though the government had the right to take an inventory, the labour leaders would also protect their followers’ right.
He said, “We are stakeholders in government but we were not briefed about this staff audit. Circulating forms within an organisation without properly informing the leadership of such institution is unfair.
“No sane human being will tolerate such a move. The government has the power and capacity to do staff audit or take an inventory, but we also have the mandate to protect the rights of workers. We should be properly briefed first.”
