ABSUTH workers resume strike to demand payment of 23-months salary arrears
The Joint Action Committee (JAC), of Abia State University Teaching hospital (ABSUTH), Aba has embarked on another strike to demand payment of 23-months arrears of salaries owed them, by the State Government.
The ABSUTH JAC is made up of the Medical and health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Senior Staff Association of Universities’ Teaching hospitals Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI) among other workers,
The JAC in a press conference, held Thursday in Aba, urged the Abia State Government to offset the 23 months salary arrears owed to workers of the institution to avoid elongated strike.
The workers renewed their suspended strike on November 4, 2022, following government’s failure to keep to its promises to offset their 23 months salary arrears.
The recent strike by the workers is coming after Abia State Government paid the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), a bulk of seven months salary, which covered March to September, 2022, but failed to pay other health workers in the institution.
Businessday checks revealed that other health workers in ABSUTH apart from ARD suspended their three months strike and went back to work in March, 2022, due to the promise by the State Government to clear the accumulated arrears of 23 months salary.
The ARD doctors refused to resume duties since March till October, 2022, but the government paid the ARD doctors seven months arrears, whereas those other health workers that resumed duty since March, 2022 were paid only one month and this annoyed them, leading to resumption of strike.
Consequently, they have resolved not to resume work until the State Government pay them as it did to the ARD.
Godson Nwaoha, secretary, JAC, ABSUTH said that the decision to resumecstrike was the decision of workers and not that of JAC, but pleaded with the government to pay them.
Nwaoha, thanked Governor Okezie Ikpeazu for paying the ARD 7-months arrears, but stressed that other workers were not captured, which triggered serious reactions leading to the renewal of the suspended strike.
According to him, “This strike started on the night of November, 4, 2022 and we received one month salary that night out of 23 months. We thanked them for at least giving us one month, but that’s not good and it’s not fair.
“Workers on their own said they will no longer continue to work, we tried our best to pacify them, and we tried our best to calm them down, pending when the government will do the needful.
“Our members want to work, they are not happy going on strike. We’re pleading with the government to at least come to our rescue and fulfill their promise to us.
“You know how important money is to us, who don’t have any other means of making money, we can’t continue like this, so the workers said they cannot continue to work without receiving their salaries.
“At least, if the State Government can bring us at par with our counterparts in ARD, JAC will try and calm the workers down. But paying a section and leaving the others is not fair.
“Other workers of ABSUTH, the consultants, the nurses, the medical and health, the senior workers association and every other person frowned at that system.