Ekiti judiciary workers begin strike

Members of the Ekiti State branch of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) have embarked on indefinite  strike since Monday, over non-harmonization of their salary structure.                                                            The workers, who had been wearing native attires since the strike started were complaining that under the current dispensation, their salaries were lower than those of their counterparts in the civil service.                                                                                 The President of JUSUN, M. S. Ibiyemi said the union demanded N21,000 as minimum wage by virtue of the reports submitted on the structure of Osun, Oyo and Ondo states, saying none of their counterparts in these states received less than N24,000 as minimum wage. The Chief Judge, Justice Ayo Daramola, yesterday appealed to the workers to accept the N19,300 being offered by the government and promised that the arrears would be paid from April 2012 to date.  He pointed out that the state was the least paid in terms of federal allocation and that the workers would always demand an increase.  He pleaded that they should reason with the governor, who, he promised, would see to the issue.     In his reaction, Mr. Apalara Wole Adewumi, Commissioner for Labour, Productivity and Human Capital Development, said JUSUN had been on the matter for sometime and that government had made up its mind to assist workers across the state. He said if JUSUN had any issue, it should come to the Ministry of Labour and Productivity, or the head of service for resolution.                     “As far as I know, government has been paying the salaries of judicial workers every month, unless the Chief judge can come out and say he has not been receiving monthly subvention from the government.                                                                                     The Head of Service, Mr. Bunmi Famosaya, said before the minimum wage, judiciary staffers were earning more than civil servants and that the committee set up to look into the matter had submitted its report with recommendations forwarded to the governor.