Imo State Oil Producing Commission workers protest 80% Salary Slash
- Workers in the Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission are aggrieved
- The workers are angry over the reported decision of the Imo state government to slash their salaries
- The workers who staged a protest over the decision, described the move by the government as an anomaly
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Workers of the Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ISOPADEC) on Tuesday, May 11 protested at their office in Owerri, the state capital.
Leadership reports that the protest was triggered by reports that the salaries of the workers have been slashed by 80%.
According to the report, the workers carried different placards with different inscriptions demanding full payment of their salaries and a stop of the slash.
According to them, no amount of intimidation will cow them to accept the development which they described as an anomaly.
Source: Facebook
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The workers union chairman, Comrade Chinedu Awuzie said the salary slash started in 2020 when the state government introduced the new policy.
According to him, during their first protest, the government arrested 15 persons, including pregnant women, and detained them for 35 days in prison custody before the court granted them bail.
He added:
“During the second protest, the government sacked 108 of us in a swoop, alleging employment irregularities. But this development will not deter us. We will continue to ask for our rights. The first protest was on April 7, 2020, and the second one on April 9, 2021.”
Two months ago, Legit.ng reported that the Hope Uzodinma administration in Imo state sacked 108 workers of ISOPADEC.
The government claimed those affected by the decision were illegally employed by the administration of a former governor of the state, now a senator, Owelle Rochas Okorocha.
The decision of the government was announced in a statement seen by Legit.ng and issued by the management of ISOPADEC on Friday, February 19.
The statement explained that in sacking the affected workers, the commission relied on a report submitted by a committee instituted by the immediate past administration of ex-Governor Emeka Ihedioha and led by one Romanus Ezeogu.
In a related development, aggrieved Imo state civil servants who have not been paid salaries for some months took their protest to the gate of Government House on Thursday, March 18.
Not less than one thousand of the workers barred the entrance to the building, despite efforts by security agents to stop them.
Source: Legit.ng
