Workers threaten to resume strike over unpaid 5 months salaries

dimeji akinloye

April 25, 2016 10:11 PM

The workers unions said that the government did not honour its previous promises to pay the salary arrears.

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This is contained in a statement issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) at the end of an emergency meeting in Lokoja on Monday, April 25.

According to NAN, the statement was jointly signed by Mr Onuh Edoka, the state NLC Chairman; Mr Ojo Ranti Matthew, Chairman of TUC and Mr Aaron Akeji, the Chairman of JNC.

The workers unions said the government did not honour its previous promises to pay the salary arrears.

It also condemned the payment of salary in piecemeal; adding that salaries for the months of October and November, 2015 were paid three months after each of the month was due.

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The statement also decried the exclusion of workers employed between January and December, 2015 from receiving the November, 2015 salaries.

It urged the state government to pay those affected because they worked for the month.

“The state government is claiming that the employment of the concerned workers was irregular, since there was an embargo on employment in the state," the statement said.

Responding to the planned strike, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, the Chief Press Secretary to the state Governor, Yahaya Bello, said that it would be unfair to blame the present government for a problem created by past administrations.

Fanwo said Bello’s administration was able to offset two months’ salary arrears within his 57 days in office.

“Labour was on an indefinite strike before the inauguration of the present administration, but the governor intervened to settle the industrial dispute”, he said.

He said the governor would undertake a holistic appraisal of the situation after the ongoing screening exercise with a view to addressing the salary issue once and for all.

dimeji akinloye