The Bayelsa State branch
of National Union of Local Government Employee (NULGE) says it has began a three-day warning strike over non-payment of salaries.
The union said the action became necessary owing to the hardship experienced by staff of the eight local government councils across the state.
Similarly, the state branch of the Medical Health Workers Union of Nigeria has equally joined their NULGE counterparts in the strike that began last Wednesday.
Secretary of NULGE in the state, Comrade Tonye Jaja explained that several efforts to address the situation with the local government council chairmen had not yielded the desired outcome, hence the decision by the union to call on its members to embark on the three day warning strike.
“We have made several attempts to get the matter resolved, but it is not working. You can imagine what the families of these staff being owed are going through. They find it difficult to feed their children. The politicians are being paid, the councillors are being paid. The Chairmen have collected their own security votes of N5 million. ALGON have also collected their deductions but they find it difficult to pay the workers”, Jaja lamented.
Staff of the eight local government councils in the state said they are going through difficult moments as a result of the inability of the councils to pay their salaries ranging from two to four months.
One of the staffers of Ogbia Council Area speaking on the condition of anonymity said, she is being owed four months,” salary.
“It’s not being easy at all because no money to feed and even to go out to do something, nothing. We have been going to work but nothing is happening. Everywhere is deserted. Me, am owing a lot. I have not been able to pay bills. Even NEPA bills I have not been able to settle mine”, she stated.
When contacted, the state chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria and Chairman of Yenagoa Local Government Council, Mr. Chubby Ben Walson said he was in a meeting and promised to call back later.
Governor Seriake Dickson had waded into the matter few weeks” back during his monthly transparency briefing where he set up a committee headed by the Chief of Staff, Government House, Talford Ongolo to meet with the council chairmen and the unions to seek ways of addressing the matter.
That effort seems not to have yielded the desired result as the workers insisted that after the three day warning strike, they will meet again to ponder on their next line of action.