However, the aggrieved workers down tools over the planned slashing of their monthly wages and allowances by the state government.
The staff of ministries that are mostly affected by the salary slash includes Health, Agriculture, Judiciary, House of Assembly and House of Assembly Service Commission.
While investigations revealed that members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, also joined the strike on sympathy ground.
Although the labour leaders have reduced the originally planned indefinite industrial action to five days warning strike, they however warned that they would be constrained to transform it into an indefinite strike, if government fails to pay their salaries.
Meanwhile, the state government has, in a press statement signed by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, CPS, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, described the 5-day warning strike as uncalled for and not justifiable.
“The five-day warning strike is uncalled for. It is not justifiable especially when it is on record that the Rescue Mission Government in the state had never owed workers before now”, the CPS said.
While saying that part of the agreement government entered with labour leaders was that where the bailout fund was not sufficient, the labour leaders and the government would meet to take decision on the next step to take.
“It is against the backdrop of these agreements that the state government feels disappointed with the 5-day warning strike, which the workers in the state have embarked upon now because the truth of the matter is that the bailout fund has not come. We had earlier made such clarification and the situation is still like that”, Onwuemeodo said.
Continuing, the CPS reasoned that “the labour leaders would have done their investigation to see whether the government was saying the truth or not, with the issue of the bailout fund”.
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