Join labour warning strike, NLC Abia urges workers

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Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Abia State chapter has warned the state government over insensitivity on their plight, describing it as unacceptable, calling all affiliate unions in the State not to ignore the national directive on the warning strike but should join forces with organised labour to tell the government that enough is enough.

Addressing journalists in Umuahia Monday, the state chairman, Comrade Pascal Iheme Nweke regretted that the state government does not carry labour in the state along in matter that concerns workers in the state.

Iheme pointed out that the state government is doing its verification of workers in a way that bestows more hardship on the workers, that the assumed palliative from the federal government is yet to be seen, some pensioners are are still being paid half salaries, workers check-off dues are not being remitted, and disengagement of workers not done with the knowledge of labour in the state and in the proper way.

According to the Abia NLC, the state government relationship with labour is not cordial, pointing out that the state government forms committees concerning workers in the state without involving labour, warning “all these are not acceptable”.

Most painful he said is that pensioners are dying in their numbers due to further hardship occasioned by the fuel subsidy removal and the payment of half pensions, stating that the state government, who ab initio, gave employment letters to the workers they disengaged recently, should have done that through disengagement letters too.

“You employed someone with an appointment letter. You should disengage him with a disengagement letter too. Pensioners are dying every day. Even workers on wheel chair are subjected to hardship during the verification.

“Most states in the country, even in the south east have given their people the palliative to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal, but here in the state, we have not seen anything. You gather five to six MDAs for verification in a day, instead of doing it one MDA a day”, he said and called on the state government to change their method of doing some of these things.

It warned, “This is the only state that has LP (Labour Party) as a state government and you don’t expect us to have issues with our own party. We don’t want to have any problem with the government”.

“But if it comes to that, we will not hesitate to do the needful, but for now, the government should sit up”.

The state Labour boss used the opportunity to inform all affiliate unions in the state to join the Wednesday warning strike, which he said is in line with the Labour national directive “to protest government meddling with the internal affairs of our affiliate members, for instance, NURTW and ” NULGE, among others”.

He advised, ” If what you are passing through is paining you, join the 2-day warning strike to let us tell the world that we cannot be suffering and smiling”.

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