Unpaid Adamawa council workers embark on strike

By Ibrahim Abdul’Aziz

Yola

Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in Adamawa state has embarked on a strike over unpaid five months’ salaries and allowances.
The union, which decried the plight of local government workers, alleged that the state government turned them to beggars, “by using the local government funds as personal funds.”
Speaking to journalists, the state president of NULGE, Hamman Gatugel, said the local government workers in the state were owed between five to seven months’ salaries.
He lamented the government’s inability to meet their demands adding that all avenues for arbitration on the matter yielded no results.
Gatugel said it was time the state government stopped discriminating between state and local government workers.
“We should be getting our salary with state workers at the same time; we go to the same market. We met severally but all to no avail, with even one of the governor’s aide bashing us, that we should go ahead with the strike.
“Never a month passed without the federal government sending the local governments funds. So, SEC resolved to embark on total, comprehensive and indefinite strike action with effect from Monday, October 23, 2017, to press home its demand for payment of entitlements,” he said.
In its reaction, the state government through the commissioner of Information and Strategy, Ahmad Sajoh, denied that the government owed the workers that long.
He claimed the state only owed the workers two months’ salaries.
He said the government was doing everything possible to address the plight of the council workers.
“We are having sleepless nights over their plight. Its two months’ salaries, so the government is working assiduously to see that their salaries are paid as soon as possible.”

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