Ebonyi Judiciary Workers Begin Strike Over Salary, Gov’t Says Action Surprising
Judiciary workers in Ebonyi State, Thursday, commenced industrial action for the failure of the state government to implement the Consolidated Judiciary Salary Structure (CJSS). THE WHISTLER reports that as a result of the strike, there were no court proceedings at the state high court.
Our correspondent reports that judiciary workers in the state had some weeks ago issued a 14-day ultimatum to the state government for the immediate implementation of the CJSS. The workers afterwards served the state government a seven-day ultimatum ahead of the strike.
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According to the vice president of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (Southeast zone), Mr Mark Ifezue, the strike was sequel to a directive by the national leadership of the union for the workers in the state to withdraw their services because of the state government’s failure to implement the wage structure.
According to him, “Virtually all the states in Nigeria are implementing the salary package, but Ebonyi State has refused to do that. The workers have been on the struggle since 2015. We have had a series of meetings with the state government. For instance, in 2015, there was even an agreement between the union and the state government but unfortunately, the state government reneged on that agreement.”
Meanwhile, the Ebonyi State attorney general and commissioner for justice, Cletus Ophoke, has described the strike as ill-timed. In his words, “The secretary to the state government and I met with them several times, and appealed to them that even if there must be a wage increase, it shouldn’t be at this time when we are battling to see if the economy will improve. Don’t forget that the state government is paying workers’ salaries regularly on or before the 15th of every month. We appealed to them to be patient. But we are surprised to see them commence the strike action. I appeal to them to embrace peace at this critical moment. They should reconsider their stand and suspend the strike for the interest of the state.”
