Salary arrears: Organised labour issues 7-day ultimatum to Abia govt.

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)



The Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Abia, Chief Uchenna Obigwe, said the organised labour in Abia had issued a seven-day ultimatum to the state government ahead of an imminent strike over the unpaid arrears of workers’ salaries and allowances in the state.

The ultimatum was contained in a statement jointly issued in Umuahia on Friday by NLC, Joint Negotiating Council and Trade Union Congress.

The group said that the ultimatum was a prelude to an impending strike.

It warned that labour should not be held responsible “for any breach of industrial peace and harmony in the state,” should government fail to address their concerns at the expiration of the ultimatum.

“A labourer deserves his wages,” it stated, adding that the organised labour was not satisfied with the “sectoral pattern of payment of workers’ salaries in the state since the inception of the present administration.”

It also stated that the unwholesome development “has placed an average worker in the state in a beggarly position economically.”

According to a list of the arrears released by the group, primary school teachers were owed three months, while secondary school teachers were last paid in October 2018.

Others include Hospital Management Board (11 months); Abia State Universal Basic Education Board (four months); Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Aba (13 months) and Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, last paid in April 2018, plus partial payment in May, the same year.

The organised labour said that while the senior staff of the College of Health Science, Aba, were owed nine months, their junior counterparts were owed eight months.

Also, Abia College of Education (Technical), Arochukwu were owed 18 months, Abia State University, Uturu (four months); local government workers last paid in March, plus half salary in October 2018.

The rest were State Education Management Board (SEMB) (eight months); Agricultural Development Programme (14 months), Ministries of Agriculture and Lands, Survey and Urban Planning, one month, respectively.