Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Workers of the Delta Printing and Publishing Company Limited, publishers of The Pointer newspapers have embarked on a three-day warning strike over alleged failure of the management of the company to effect promotions.
Besides, the workers are aggrieved that all categories of allowances have been stopped since 2014, and that top officials of the Ministry of Information have allegedly hijacked its circulation votes from the state government.
They alleged that the top officials of the ministry have taken it upon themselves to be circulating the newspaper after accessing the circulation votes, thereby making drivers of the company redundant.
The Pointer newspaper is a daily publication of the Delta State Government.
Our correspondent who monitored the situation at the newspaper’s head office in Asaba observed that the work-to-rule was total as leaders of the two unions in the newspaper establishment including the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Product Workers (NUPPPPROW) were on ground to ensure compliance.
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The unions vowed to enforce a total closure of the newspaper house if the issues were not addressed within the three-day warning strike.
Chairman of The Pointer chapel of NUJ, Sunny Egede flanked by his NUPPPPROW counterpart, Samson Duvwode, said the workers have unsuccessful exhausted all available means to ensure that promotions were effected before the warning strike.
Egede said promotion of workers in the commercial department on level 15 to 16 was approved in January 2017 by Establishment office, adding however that the board and management of the newspaper failed to call for promotion interview.
He alleged that when eventually the interview was scheduled after much pressure, only one person out of five persons eligible for the exercise was invited.
According to him, the unions waded in, and their intervention stalled the conduct of the interview.
“In January, this year, we met with the board and highlighted various issues bothering on staff welfare including that of promotion, and issued a 21-day ultimatum for the issues to be addressed which expired. We issued a 14-day ultimatum and management did not yield after its expiration. We went ahead to issue a 7-day ultimatum, yet the board and management failed to even lift a finger to address these issues.
“All the ultimatums expired on March 9 when we met with the Special Adviser to the Governor on Labour Relations, Mike Okeme whose intervention has not be fruitful. So after exploring all these processes, nothing positive happened, we have to take this last option of work to rule.
“We are in pain that for 15 months, our people have been denied of promotion, and we are in an era where arrears are not being paid. Apart from this issue of promotion, all allowances due to workers have longed been stopped for over three years. Our prayer is that the governor intervenes and save the situation,” he said.