Striking workers of four tertiary institutions owned by the Edo State Government on Monday said they had resolved to take their protest to God to seek divine intervention in their demands.
The workers had on September 17, begun an indefinite strike to protest the non-payment of their four-month salary, 16-month salary arrears and poor funding of the affected institutions.
This came two weeks after students of the institutions staged a demonstration on the Benin-Ore Expressway to protest the proposed plan by the staff to down tools.
The workers, who held a peaceful “prayer protest” at the Oba Akenzua Cultural Centre in Benin, under the Coalition of Unions of State-owned Tertiary Institutions, said they were not unaware that there might be forces responsible for the inability of the state government to meet their demands.
The President of the coalition, Mr. Fred Omonuwa, told our correspondent that staff of the affected institutions were yet to receive their 16-month salary arrears, which arose from a differential in the implementations of the salary structure of CONPCASS and CONTEDISS from July 2009 to October 2010.
The affected institutions are College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi; College of Education, Ekiadolor; Institute of Management Technology, Usen and College of Education, Igueben,
Omonuwa noted that although the state government had requested documented staff information from some of the affected institutions, such information had since been provided.
He therefore urged the state government to alleviate the plight of the workers by paying the regular salary, among other demands.
Omonuwa said, “If they pay our salary up to date, then we may put the other issues to agreement. We have told them and they (government) quite understand our position.
“If there are principalities and powers behind these ill treatments of workers in these institutions, we decided to take our case to God, first.
“The status quo remains the same. We are on strike and we will remain on strike until our demands are met.”
Also, the Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education in Nigeria described the situation as worrisome.
The Secretary of the College of Education, Igueben Chapter of the union, Mr. Solomon Agazuma, lamented that the institution had been bedevilled by the irregular payment of workers’ salaries.
The workers had on September 17, begun an indefinite strike to protest the non-payment of their four-month salary, 16-month salary arrears and poor funding of the affected institutions.
This came two weeks after students of the institutions staged a demonstration on the Benin-Ore Expressway to protest the proposed plan by the staff to down tools.
The workers, who held a peaceful “prayer protest” at the Oba Akenzua Cultural Centre in Benin, under the Coalition of Unions of State-owned Tertiary Institutions, said they were not unaware that there might be forces responsible for the inability of the state government to meet their demands.
The President of the coalition, Mr. Fred Omonuwa, told our correspondent that staff of the affected institutions were yet to receive their 16-month salary arrears, which arose from a differential in the implementations of the salary structure of CONPCASS and CONTEDISS from July 2009 to October 2010.
The affected institutions are College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi; College of Education, Ekiadolor; Institute of Management Technology, Usen and College of Education, Igueben,
Omonuwa noted that although the state government had requested documented staff information from some of the affected institutions, such information had since been provided.
He therefore urged the state government to alleviate the plight of the workers by paying the regular salary, among other demands.
Omonuwa said, “If they pay our salary up to date, then we may put the other issues to agreement. We have told them and they (government) quite understand our position.
“If there are principalities and powers behind these ill treatments of workers in these institutions, we decided to take our case to God, first.
“The status quo remains the same. We are on strike and we will remain on strike until our demands are met.”
Also, the Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education in Nigeria described the situation as worrisome.
The Secretary of the College of Education, Igueben Chapter of the union, Mr. Solomon Agazuma, lamented that the institution had been bedevilled by the irregular payment of workers’ salaries.
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