They must pay all they owe or else the strike will continue, NLC warns Abia Govt

The Abia State branch of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Saturday, stated that it will not call off its continuing strike since the state administration has been unable to come to an agreement and pay employees their backlog of salaries in the state.

Additionally, the union threatened to continue the walkout until appropriate action was taken.

Pascal Iheme, the state chairman of the NLC, told newsmen in Umuahia, that the departing governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, had broken his pledge to the union.

Read Also: Court nullifies election of Otti as Abia gov-elect, 10 days to inauguration

Last weekend, the state government promised to start paying the workers’ unpaid wages on Monday, May 15, 2023. The government had additionally urged the striking employees to resume their jobs.

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) recently labelled Abia alongside Imo and Benue as states giving health workers “sleepless nights” due to non-payment of salaries.

However, Iheme, during the press briefing, revealed the reason the strike is still ongoing.

He said, ““We have not reached any agreement whatsoever. The only way forward is for the government to pay us. We know they just have a few days to go but they must pay us.

“Nothing reasonable has been done. What they were doing was that they were handpicking those to pay. That to us, is not reasonable. They must pay all they owe or else, the strike will continue.”

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