Edo Judiciary Staff Union Shuns Nationwide Strike

Posted by African Examiner African News, Featured, Latest Headlines, News, News Across Nigeria, News From The State Tuesday, April 6th, 2021

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Edo chapter, on Tuesday, shunned the nationwide strike directed by the national body.

The union based its decision to shun the industrial action on what it called ”the 2015 experience”.

A NAN correspondent, who visited some of the courts in Benin, observed that workers were at their duty posts, notwithstanding the directive of the national body of JUSUN.

One of the workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that they were not ready for the strike based on their experience when they joined similar nationwide strike in 2015.

He said: “In 2015, we joined the nationwide strike and the state government refused to pay our salary for seven months. The national body did not intervene and till date, we have not been paid.”

The state Chairman of JUSUN, Mr Uyi Ogieriakhi, who spoke on the development, said that the union executives got the information late on April 1 and could not address the workers before the close of work that day.

“The truth of the matter is that in 2015, we joined this same strike.

“The state government, under Gov. Adams Oshiomhole, refused to pay us for the six months period of the strike, including the one month he was owing us before, making it seven months.

“So the workers are now afraid. These are poor workers who live on salaries, and the national body just directed that we should proceed on another strike.

“But even aside that, we got the information late on Thursday, while Friday and Monday were public holidays and we couldn’t address our members.

“The option now is that they should come to work today so that we can brief them on the directive from the national body to which we can’t say No.”

Continuing, he said, “Don’t look at the situation today. We may decide to observe the strike from tomorrow. It’s just because we got the directive late.”

(NAN)