By Gabriel Enogholase
BENIN—JUDICIARY Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, Edo State chapter, yesterday, commenced a one-week warning strike over the non-inclusion of salary grade levels 1 to 6 of its members in the new minimum wage scheme by the state government.

The gates of various courts visited by Vanguard in Benin metropolis were under lock and key.

A circular earlier issued by the leadership of the union had directed its members to stay away from work over the new minimum wage issue.

The circular by Kayode Igbarago and U. Ogieriakhi, Chairman and Secretary, respectively, insisted that the workers would, on the expiration of the one-week warning strike, embark on an indefinite industrial action unless the state government extended the new minimum wage to all grades of public service workers in the state.

According to the circular, “all staff of the Edo State Judiciary are directed to stay away from August 29, 2011, to September 1, 2011, except government fully implements the new wage for workers on level 01 to 17 in line with the Minimum Wage Act as had been extended to all grades of public services workers in Edo State.”

It will be recalled that the leadership of Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC and Trade Union Congress, TUC, had early this month, embarked on strike over the non-inclusion of teachers on the new minimum wage.