Workers in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), say they will resume work on Thursday, after a three-month strike.
Chairman, National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Bwari chapter, Mr Emmanuel Ishaku, said in a telephone interview yesterday, in Abuja.
Ishaku said, although the FCT NULGE secretariat had directed all members to resume work Tuesday, he however said that the compliance suffered a setback.
“We were supposed to resume work on Tuesday, but the Federal Government declared a public holiday in honour of the late former president, Muhammadu Buhari.
“We also need to fumigate the entire office premises in preparation for the resumption. This is a necessary step that will enable workers to comfortably resume duty by Thursday,” Ishaku said.
Ishaku also confirmed that workers had received five months part payment arrears of the wages in contest.
NAN reports that the FCT joint union of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and NULGE had, on March 24, directed its workers across the six area councils to sit-at-home.
The action, which lasted over three months, was prompted over unpaid minimum wage and other welfare concerns.
However, while the NUT suspended its action on July 9, after an intervention by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, NULGE followed suit on July 14, directing its members to also return to work.
NULGE’s directive was contained in a communique, issued at the end of the union’s State Executive Council meeting held on Monday, at the union’s State Secretariat in Gwagwalada.
The union said that arrived at its decision “after exhaustive deliberations and appeals from the FCT Minister, FCT Traditional Council, and other key stakeholders.”
It added that the minister had ordered the use of 10 per cent of the Area Councils’ Internally Generated Revenue to pay off the three months’ salary arrears owed to local government workers.
The union said that it would collaborate with a Special Committee constituted by the Minister, “to harmonise all outstanding arrears within two weeks.
Our correspondent, who visited the council secretariat, observed that the gates of the complex had remained shut, with less activity around the area.