By Ugochukwu Alaribe

The Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, Abia state chapter, has said it will not call off its ongoing strike until the state government pays the salaries owed to workers.

JUSUN embarked on strike on January 2, 2025, following the non-implementation of the new national minimum wage for judicial workers in the state.

Chairman, JUSUN, Abia State, Comrade Chinedu Ezeh, who confirmed that the Union had signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, with the state government to pay the salaries, however, disclosed the Union will continue with the industrial action until the government implements the agreement it signed.

He said, “We signed an MOU with the state government, but there are certain aspects of the agreement that we are still expecting the state government to fulfill. The true position is that we have signed an MOU, but it is premised on the ground that the government will make some commitment. They will credit our account with the money that will enable us to pay our salaries.

“They have agreed to do that from today until Monday. So, we are still waiting because that is what we have in the agreement.

“We are going to wait until we have our account credited. When this is done, we will summon a congress and inform our members that the issues have been resolved. This will now lead to the suspension of the strike. Until this is done, we are not going to call off the strike. We are waiting for the government to do the needful.”

On whether the Union doesn’t trust the government to implement the MOU signed, the Union chairman insisted that JUSUN is waiting for the government to fulfill the agreement.

“We are waiting for the government. The reason is that we don’t want a situation where we will suspend the strike and the money will not be paid. Then, we will now start another strike. But since they have given us their word, the ball is in their court. We can’t say anything until the time they gave us expires. The main issue is the payment. Until it is done, no issue has been resolved. They know what is contained in the agreement, it is for them to do it. Immediately they do it, the issues will be resolved. Let them do what is needed, and things will return to normal.”