Workers under the aegis of Joint Health Sector Unions of the University College Hospitals on Friday issued the federal government a seven-day ultimatum to pay their outstanding salaries to prevent an indefinite strike from Tuesday, 3rd January, 2017.
The executives of the four unions, who spoke through the Chairman, NUAHP, Mr Segun Sotiloye at a press conference at the hospital, stated that the health workers were last paid in September and strongly condemned being owed their salaries.
The health workers maintained that the non-payment of salaries in the later part of the year had become a recurring decimal since 2014 when November and December salaries were not paid till January of the following year.
The unions, who linked the unpaid salaries to arbitrary slash in personnel budget for the hospital, said they envisaged that the situation is likely to get worse in 2017 based on the experiences of the years 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Sotiloye declared, “to say that the UCH workers have been subjected to unimaginable hardship is an understatement. As we speak, our members are dejected, disenfranchised and their morale is at the lowest ebb.
“They are so financially handicapped especially at this festive season and are having serious trepidation as to what January is likely to portend with prospects of school fees to be paid and so on.
“Some of our members are already trekking to work just to fulfil their professional, ethical and moral obligations. Those who can borrow have borrowed many times and their lenders have grown tired of them and are no longer lending them money.”
They called on those in charge of personnel budget to do everything that is needful in making sure that adequate provisions is made to cover year 2017, adding, “any further attempt to owe our workers any salary will be strongly rejected.”
The unions also urged well meaning Nigerians to help put pressure on the federal government to quickly pay the outstanding salaries.