The 245 workers of the Lagos Television (LTV), Radio Lagos/Eko FM, and Lagos Traffic Radio, who had been on strike for over 24 hours crippling the stations operations, defied the directives issued by the State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, through the Ministry of Establishments and Training, mandating the aggrieved staff to resume and continue operations.
They vowed to continue the industrial action for the duration they had scheduled it for, saying the only thing that can abort the plan is when the government meet our demands, aside that, the strike continues.
In a significant development on Tuesday, the Guild Press discovered that the LTV stations had been rendered inaccessible on multiple pay TV platforms, as a result of a deliberate tampering of their transmitters.
Aside from that, our correspondent on the ground gathered that the workers remained resolute in the strike, protesting on streets and refusing to back down until their grievances were adequately addressed by the government.
In a statement released by the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists Lagos Chapter, Adeleye Ajayi, the unions involved in the protest reaffirmed their rejection of the order to resume operations across the broadcasting stations, and vowed to resist any attempts by the government to intimidate or coerce their members into compliance.
Ajayi stressed that workers have the right to protest in order to press home their demands without any intimidation or fear adding that any attempt to blackmail the Unions will be opposed as its members deserve to enjoy all benefits extended to other civil staff in the state.
The statement reads in parts, “In the said publication, the Hon. Commissioner For Establishments and Training, Mr Afolabi Ayantayo, accused National Labour Congress, Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union and the NUJ of preventing workers of LTV, Radio Lagos/Eko FM and Lagos Traffic Radio from discharging their duties””
“To set the record straight, the State Executives of NLC, NUJ and RATTAWU, are aware that some of these employees who are our members were compelled to report to their duty posts by their management and threatened them not to take part in the ongoing strike”
“Any attempt to blackmail the Unions will be greatly resisted as our members deserve to enjoy all benefits extended to other workers in Lagos State. The 3-day warning strike which began yesterday was peaceful and will go on as scheduled until the workers’ demands are met”.
The striking workers’ decision came hours after the governor, who spoke through his Commissioner, Afolabi Ayantayo, directed them to return to work and wait until they get solutions to their requests.
He said, “The leaders of NUJ and RATTAWU are advised to refrain from intimidating staff from carrying out their lawful duty. A strike should not be turned into an attack on the agencies and their workers”
“Workers of the three broadcast stations are enjoined to report for work and avoid any confrontation with the union members”.
