By LEONARD OKACHIE

Angry workers of the Abia Health Management Board (HMB) on Thursday picketed the Offices of the Executive Officer (EO) and Director of Finance over unpaid 13 months salary arrears.

The Chairperson of the HMB Medical and Health Workers Union, Chidinma Wokoma, told newsmen that the action was to protest against management’s failure to pay the July salary of some workers.

Wokoma said, “We are picketing their offices today and they shall remain shut until they pay the salaries.”

According to her, HMB owe workers 13 months arrears of salaries.

”The HMB owe the workers eight months in 2021 and five months this year,” she said.

The chairperson said that the union’s protest had lingered for about one month without any positive response from the management.

She said that following their agitations, the state government introduced biometric verification of workers in all the stations in the 17 Local Government Areas.

“Government brought the biometric machines and commenced the verification on Dec. 7.

“Unfortunately, some of the machines malfunctioned in Ohafia, Okeikpe and Ututu.

“To make up for the lapse, management conducted separate exercise to verify those who were not captured.

“However, while some workers were paid their July salary, others were not,” Wokoma said.

She further said that the union met the EO, Mr Alison Obinna, who promised that the affected people would be paid on Wednesday after the Christmas holiday.

She said: “These people waited throughout Wednesday and their salary was not paid and the CEO did not come to office”.

The union leader faulted management’s decision to hing the payment of July salary on the biometric verification done in December.

“The normal thing is to use the biometric verification to pay salaries going forward from December.

”Having certified that the affected workers are not ghost workers, management ought to pay them along with their counterparts,” the chairperson said.

Wokoma, however, said that the union had earlier issued a 14-day ultimatum that lapsed on Wednesday and later a fresh seven-day ultimatum, beginning from Dec. 24.

She said that the union would declare an indefinite strike on Jan. 14, 2023, if the state government fails to pay five months of the unpaid 13 months arrears.

“We cannot continue to watch our workers suffer indefinitely.

“The workers are owed 13 months arrears of salaries and they went for the Yuletide celebration without salary.

“We are being treated as second hand citizens.

“It is unacceptable to us that this festive period, workers are denied their salaries to fend for themselves and their families.

“You can imagine the level of deprivation, hunger and starvation our people are passing through.

“I consider it inhuman for our workers to go home in December without July salary.

“And they are likely going home for the New Year celebration without salary” Wokoma said.

She described the treatment allegedly being meted to Abia HMB workers as “inhuman”.

She asked, “What is our offence?

“My heart bleeds to see that workers in other ministries, who did not do biometric verification, have been paid their December salaries.

“It is painful to leave people to die of hunger and starvation after they have worked for the state.

“It high time the state government began to treat HMB workers like other civil servants,” she further said.

Reacting to the development in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the EO said, “I don’t have any comment to make.

“I do not know what she (Wokoma) is talking about.

“If they picketed my office, they have also opened it.” (NAN)

Update news