13-MONTH UNPAID SALARIES: LG workers in Rivers vow to embark on indefinite strike

Local government workers in Rivers have vowed to embark on an indefinite strike to protest 13-month unpaid salaries of some of their members in the state.

The workers across Rivers State’s 23 local government areas said the strike would commence from Monday, September 21.

Over 100 workers of Ahoada West LGA had accused the council chairman, Hope Ikiriko, of denying to pay them their 13-month salary.

The affected workers reported the matter to the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).

The NULGE chairman, Clifford Paul, who spoke in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, said all the LGA workers would embark on a solidarity strike to ensure that Ikiriko paid the affected workers their 13-month salaries.

He said the action became inevitable because all efforts to have the Ahoada West council boss pay the workers the salaries owned them amounted to exercise in futility.

READ ALSO: NLC, TUC call off planned strike in Rivers

“We have exhausted all channels of dialogues, we have written to the appropriate authorities informing them that we would embark on this strike if nothing was done within 14 days and the ultimatum we gave has elapsed.

“Rather, the Executive Chairman of Ahoada West, Hope Ikiriko is using diversionary tactics and we have agreed to embark on an indefinite strike on the 23 LGAs beginning from Monday, 21 September, 2020,” Paul said.

Meanwhile, Ikiriko is insisting that the affected workers were ghost workers and that nobody should push him.

He added that he had evidence to prove his stand and challenged the affected workers to come up with their own evidence to prove they were employed by the LGA.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had also recently threatened to embark on strike in Rivers over unpaid salaries and other demands.

The unions, however, called off the planned strike after they entered into agreement with the Governor Nyesom Wike-led government of the state.

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