By Omos Oyinbode, Asaba
After 65 days of arrested development occasioned by unpaid salaries, the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Delta State Chapter, Wednesday, suspended its two months old industrial action.
Announcing the suspension of the strike which had crippled the activities of the 25 local government councils in the state, NULGE President and Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade David Ofoeyeno, followed the intervention of the state governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa.
Comrade Ofoeyeno, who disclosed that the governor has released funds enough to settle at least three months salary backlog, however, noted that the agitation was still on by the NULGE and other stakeholders to find permanent solution to the lingering problem besetting the local government administration as a tier of government.
“The suspension of the strike action today was a result of the intervention, interest and commitment of our amiable governor, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa in making sure that the issue is resolved and local government workers get their entitlement like their counterparts at the state level”, he said.
While calling on local government workers in the state to resume work immediately, the NULGE boss also urged the governor to look at the possibility of state government taking over the payment of primary school teachers’ salaries as a short term measure while a permanent solution is being sought out.
Ofoeyeno, who said that the union would monitor the development in the next four months to ensure that such ugly experience does not occur again, warning that they may be forced to resume the strike.
According to him, NULGE as a body has put strategies in place to monitor the disbursement of the fund to ensure that it’s not diverted but fully utilized for the purpose its meant for, saying that as a watchdog, the position is that any council that does contrary would be picketed.
It would be recalled that NULGE in Delta State had embarked on May 11, 2015 on indefinite strike action in 21 council areas following the inability of the council authorities to pay its workers’ salaries spanning over six months.
