Poor Workers' Attendance for May Day celebration in Bayelsa

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Amidst the May Day celebration in state across the federation and other countries of the world, report has it that there was low turnout of workers in Bayelsa and Kwara States, as workers stayed back from the May Day celebration.
It was observed that many of the workers stayed away from the event.

The ceremony which took place at Peace Park, Yenagoa, had heavy presence of men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, riot Policemen and personnel of the Department of State Services.

It was learnt that the heavy deployment of security personnel in the scanty venue was aimed at quelling any attempt by the organized labour or its affiliate unions to use the occasion to protest against unpaid salaries and poor working conditions of workers in the state.

Workers in the mainstream state civil service are said to be owed about seven months, while teachers and pensioners are battling to cope with about eight months of unpaid wages and pensions.

The state Nigeria Union of Teachers had on Friday threatened to commence a three-day warning strike on Tuesday (today), as schools resume for the third term of the 2016/2017 academic session.

At the Workers’ Day ceremony, members of the civil service unions wore long faces while marching past the Deputy Governor, John Jonah, who took the salute on the dais.

A mild drama played out when members of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, during their march past, saluted the deputy governor with both hands on their stomachs to depict hunger.

In a joint address, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress decried economic hardship workers in the state were passing through due to unpaid salaries.

The state Chairman of the NLC, John Bipre-Ndiomu, who read the address, demanded that the government should use the expected second tranche of the Paris Club loan disbursement by the Federal Government to settle all the salary arrears.

He said, “Congress calls on government to note that payment of salaries is a first line charge and should be given more consideration than any project.

“Primary school teachers have suffered untold hardship since 2016 to date. Further neglect of the sector will hamper the good intentions of the government in the education sub-sector as that is the bedrock of the foundation of quality education.”

According to Bipre-Ndiomu, other concerns of the organised labour are non-payment of gratuities since 2013, lack of attention and funding of the state-owned New Waves newspaper, deplorable state of infrastructure at the College of Health Technology in Otuogidi and the Jasper Isaac Boro College of education in Sagbama.

In his response, the deputy governor, described the workers as “industrious and hardworking.”

He stressed that the state government was addressing the issues raised by the NLC and the TUC despite the paucity of funds.