NAFDAC workers strike indefinitely over unpaid allowances

By Doyin Ojosipe

Workers of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) have commenced a nationwide indefinite strike which started on Monday, after Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), shut down the Agency offices across the country, over poor working condition and unpaid allowances.

The chairman of the union, Stephen Ibeh, who led the protest at the NAFDAC premises in Lagos, had also directed NAFDAC staff in all the agency’s offices across the country to vacate their duty posts and comply with the strike action immediately.

The strike action was in protest against unpaid allowances, refusal of government to improve the welfare of workers, and the demand against promotion of workers on level 9 to 11, which is ahead of workers on level 10, of which is reported to have become a norm for health workers under the Federal Ministry of Health.

The chairman also lamented that all efforts to bring the National Salaries and

Wages Commission to a round table had proved abortive, as the commission had shown unwillingness to negotiate over the workers’ demands.

Mr. Ibeh vowed that the strike will not stop until federal government meets their demands, “This strike action will continue indefinitely until all demands are met. The Joint Health Sector Union strike should be separated from NAFDAC workers strike which will continue indefinitely until all demands are met,” he said.