NLC, TUC Order Workers To Embark On Strike

The Edo State chapters
of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have directed workers in the state civil service to embark on an indefinite strike.
The state Chairman of the NLC, Mr Emma Ademokun, told our correspondent in Benin, that the unions reached the decision to embark on the strike at a meeting held recently.
He said that a 21-day ultimatum, which they gave the state government in consonance with the law had since expired, adding that it was the failure to respond to their demands that led to the call for a strike.
According to him, the workers’ grievances include the non-payment of salary relativity of 53.37 per cent and the balance of 20 per cent of consolidated health salary structure.
Ademokun listed the other grievances as the government’s failure to pay the balance 10.5 per cent of Teachers Special Allowance (TSA) as well as its omission to conduct promotions in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
“Edo state workers are the least paid in the whole of the South-South and in the APC- controlled states. We have decided that the strike will be total.
“All public offices, including the health sector, will be shut down indefinitely starting from Tuesday, December 3, until all the contending issues are amicably resolved,’’ he said.
The workers have since complied with the union’s directive from Tuesday December 3, to embark on strike.
When contacted, the Special Adviser to the governor on media, Mr Kassim Afegbua, appealed to the workers to appreciate the government’s efforts to pay their salaries as and when due.