Plateau workers suspend strike

Civil servants in Plateau State who have been on strike since early last month have suspended the strike. The workers, who started the strike on the May 5th following six months of non-payment of salaries by the immediate past government of Jonah David Jang, have opted to resume work in response to appeals by Governor Simon Lalong who promised to pay two months of the salary arrears of workers within this week.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which called the workers out on the strike and has been managing it, confirmed that the strike had indeed been suspended.

State Chairman of the NLC, Comrade Jibrin Bancir, said the NLC was taking Lalong by his words in the hope that he would pay part of the salary arrears as promptly as he had promised.

The decision of the NLC did not come as a surprise as Lalong made a strong appeal to the striking workers on the day of his inauguration, May 29th, and has repeated the appeal on almost every occasion that he had the opportunity to speak since then.

One of the ways in which members of the public will benefit from the strike suspension is the possible early evacuation of heaps of refuse that have been gathering in many parts of the state capital especially Jos, since the workers started the strike five weeks ago.