16th March, 2011
Members of the Radio, Television and Theatre Workers Union, RATAWU and the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, at the Radio Lagos and Lagos Television have threatened to shut down the three broadcast stations owned by the Lagos State government if their demands are not met.
The workers, who staged a protest that lasted about an hour this morning during which the three stations were grounded are demanding the payment of the new minimum wage and arrears with effect from January this year.
P.M.NEWS learnt that the workers have presented their grievances to the Lagos State Head of Service, Mr. Olusegun Ogunlewe in a letter giving the state government a 48-hour ultimatum to meet their demands or the state’s three electronic media – Radio Lagos, Eko FM and Lagos Television will be shut down on Monday next week.
The workers at Lagos Television are the most aggrieved as they have not been paid their February salary.
The General Manager, Radio Lagos, Mrs. Tinu Aina-Badejo met with the aggrieved workers this morning and assured them that the management was making efforts to meet with their demands.
However, a representative of the workers who pleaded anonymity told P.M.NEWS that the RATAWU/NUJ members are not impressed by Mrs. Aina-Badejo’s assurances.
He said the workers have vowed to shut down the three stations on Monday, if their demands were not met.
He blamed the delay in the payment of the workers’ salaries on poor subvention, stressing that the N4 million grant of the stage government cannot pay their salaries and they had to wait for advert revenue to augment government’s subvention.
—Moyo Fabiyi