Oyo labour unions kick against alleged planned demolition of BCOS staff quarters

Labour unions in Oyo State have kicked against the alleged plan to demolish the staff quarters of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS).
The unions, including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) as well as Radio and Television Association of Workers Union (RATTAWU) expressed their displeasure in separate interviews on Tuesday in Ibadan.
The BCOS staff quarters, which consists of 21 flats housing junior staff and 25 chalets housing the senior workers, was constructed by the military administration of retired Brig.-Gen David Jemibewon.
The leaders of the various unions had joined the BCOS chapters of the unions in protest against the planned demolition.
NAN reports that BCOS workers led by their union leaders, Abiodun Akinkunle of the NUJ and Kola Carew of RATTAWU had mobilised their colleagues to protest the planned demolition.
Emmanuel Ogundiran, the State TUC Chairman and  Ademola Babalola, the State NUJ Chairman, had led their members in two separate meetings with government officials aimed at resolving the issue amicably.
The two separate meetings were held with Alhaji Bayo Titilola-Sodo, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Labour Matters and the BCOS management led by its Executive Chairman, Prince Dotun Oyelade.
Ogundiran appealed to the governor and BCOS management to consider future development as well as possible expansion of the corporation.
“We are very particular about the critical staff. We wouldn’t want anything that will affect the service been rendered by the BCOS. There has to be room for expansion.
“We are also taking into cognisance the futuristic development of this corporation. We have submitted our requests to the BCOS management and hope they would work on them,” he said.
Babalola expressed worry over government’s plan to demolish quarters housing some of their members working with BCOS.
He called on the state government under the leadership of Gov. Seyi Makinde to have a rethink on the issue.
“These structures were put up by the government of retired Brig.-Gen David Jemibewon. I know there is no government in Nigeria that can afford to build this kind of structure today.
“BCOS has massive undeveloped land that can be used for the proposed estate than ejecting journalists from the quarters. This is a bad development,” he said.
Babalola lauded the union’s branch leaders for their efforts, assuring them of support from all journalists in the state.
In their separate responses, Titilola-Sodo and Oyelade, urged leaders of the union to remain calm, promising their requests would be looked into.