Bwari council workers to resume work today after 3 months strike

Bwari Area Council workers say they will resume work on Thursday, after a three-month strike. Mr Emmanuel Ishaku, chairman, National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Bwari chapter, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview on Wednesday, in Abuja, that although the FCT NULGE secretariat had directed all members to resume […]

Bwari Area Council workers say they will resume work on Thursday, after a three-month strike.

Mr Emmanuel Ishaku, chairman, National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Bwari chapter, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview on Wednesday, in Abuja, that although the FCT NULGE secretariat had directed all members to resume work Tuesday, the compliance suffered a setback.

“We were supposed to resume work on Tuesday, but the Federal Government declared it a public holiday in honour of the late former president, Muhammadu Buhari.

“We also need to fumigate the entire office premises in preparation for the resumption. This is a necessary step that will enable workers to comfortably resume duty by Thursday,” Ishaku said.

(NAN) 

Ishaku also confirmed that workers had received five months’ arrears of wages that was in dispute.

NAN reports that the FCT joint union of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and NULGE had, on March 24, directed its workers across the six area councils to sit at home.

The action, which lasted over three months, was prompted by unpaid minimum wage and other welfare concerns.

However, while the NUT suspended its action on July 9, after an intervention by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, NULGE followed suit on July 14, directing its members to also return to work.

NULGE’s directive was contained in a communique issued at the end of the union’s State Executive Council meeting held on Monday, at the union’s State Secretariat in Gwagwalada.

The union said that it arrived at its decision “after exhaustive deliberations and appeals from the FCT Minister, FCT Traditional Council, and other key stakeholders.”

It added that the minister had ordered the use of 10 per cent of the Area Councils’ Internally Generated Revenue to pay off the three months’ salary arrears owed local government workers.

The union said that it would collaborate with a Special Committee constituted by the Minister, “to harmonise all outstanding arrears within two weeks.

NAN correspondent, who visited the council secretariat, observed that the gates of the complex had remained shut, with less activity around the area. (NAN)