Staff of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly on Thursday, April 23 in Uyo, began a three-day warning strike following the refusal of the state government to honour the agreement it reached with the union on the payment of the new consolidated salary structure.
The aggrieved workers, who numbered at least a hundred, blocked the entrance to the Assembly gates, bearing fresh plantain leaves and other objects, preventing visitors from gaining access into the complex.
The workers also chanted anti-government songs during the protest in front of the Assembly complex, condemning it for paying lip service to the welfare of the workers despite the state’s oil riches.
Speaking with journalists, the State Chairman of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria, Mr. Kufre-Abasi Aderi, said the union decided to embark on the strike after the expiration of a 21-day ultimatum issued by the union.
The PASAN chairman said lawmakers had refused to look into their demands and the plight of the workers after a series of agreements between the union and the Assembly workers, listing two of the key worker demands as the non-payment of outfit allowance and non-implementation of new consolidated salary schemes.
Aderi also decried the poor and unhygienic working condition of the Assembly complex, saying it needed an overhaul.
“Consequent upon this, the entire staff of the state House of Assembly, after due consultation, unanimously declared a three-day warning strike from yesterday,” he said.
He stated that if the government failed to yield to the request of the union after the warning strike, the workers would embark on an indefinite strike to press home their demands.
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