Nigeria Union of Teachers, Ebonyi State Chapter has directed its members in seven Local Government Areas where months of salary areas are owed to embark on an indefinite strike.
The industrial action, which commenced on Thursday was announced in a statement signed by Ebonyi State Secretary of the union, Bassey Asuquo, in the state made available to reporters in Abakaliki.
According to NUT, the affected LGAs are Edda; Ebonyi, Ezza South, Ezza North, Ishielu, Ivo and Ohaukwu respectively, as the LGA chairmen of the affected councils were alleged to owe teachers four months salaries covering October, November, December and January respectively.
In the statement made by the union, it directed members in the seven LGAs to down tools after negotiation with the relevant authorities in the affected councils failed to produce fruitful results, as the Secretary noted that the declaration of the industrial action was done after due consultations with relevant organs of the union at the state and national levels.
The statement read in part; “Sequel to our earlier notice on mobilisation for industrial strike, we have thoroughly reviewed the compliance of Local Government Area chairmen regarding the clearance of our members salaries.
“However, we regret to inform you that several chairmen of LGAs have failed to clear the backlog of our members outstanding salary arrears.
“In response to this non compliance therefore, we hereby declare indefinite strike action in the affected council areas which include; Edda, Ebonyi, Ezza North, Ezza South, Ishielu, Ivo and Ohaukwu LGAs respectively.
“All our state branch officers in the affected LGAs are instructed to adhere strictly to this directive and ensure the immediate enforcement of the strike action from 12am on Thursday, Feb 6.
“The failure of these LGAs chairmen to meet their obligations to our members is unacceptable and we will not relent until our demands are met.
“We call on all our members to remain steadfast and continue their support for the strike.”
9News Nigeria, reports that as at the time of filling this report, there is 100 percent compliance of teachers in to the industrial strike.
