Paul Osuyi, Asaba
The strike embarked on by workers in Delta State over nonimplementation of the new minimum wage by the federal government has been suspended.
The state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had on Wednesday enforced the strike by shutting public offices including the federal secretariat and state institutions, while sending students back home from schools.
Confirming the suspension of the day old strike on Thursday in Asaba, the state chairman of NLC, Goodluck Ofobruku said the latest action was a directive from the national leadership of the NLC.
Ofobruku spoke to Daily Sun on the sidelines of the 5th Quadrennial State Delegates’ Conference of the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN).
According to him, “the strike has been suspended in Delta State following the intervention and directive from the national headquarter of NLC that we should suspend it.
“The initial directive we got was that if negotiation is not concluded by Tuesday, we should commence strike by Wednesday which we complied with.
“That is why you saw that we went out yesterday (Wednesday) to enforce the strike. Based on the directive from the national headquarter, we have equally advised workers to go back to work.”
Ofobruku denied insinuations that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa prevailed on the union in the state to suspend the strike, insisting that “we are in contact with other states and the national leadership. We were told that significant progress has been made in negotiation, and that we should soft pedal for now.”
The labour leader stated that he has no regret enforcing the strike action as earlier directed, adding that they have been placed on red alert while awaiting the outcome of the negotiations.