Follow Us on Google
…says party stands firmly with Imo workers
From George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
The Imo state Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) has slammed Governor Hope Uzodimma over the declaration of indefinite strike by organised Labour which has left the state in darkness following the cutting off of power supply to the state .
It would be recalled that the National leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress NLC/ TUC had on Tuesday declared an indefinite strike following the alleged attack of Union members by hoodlums sponsored by the state government on May 1,2023.
The party lamented that within the last two months that the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress have embarked on strike because of the intimidation , harassment and brutalisation of workers by the state government.
Addressing a press conference on Friday , the Publicity Secretary of the Imo Peoples Democratic party( PDP), Mr Collins Opuruzor said : ” Imo state is on total blackout and shut down caused by the brutalisation of Imo workers ,incessant harassment and ruthless attacks on the members of the members of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress by the desperate and outgoing regime of Governor Hope Uzodimma.
Today ,Imo workers are not just denied their salaries ,they are further brutally attacked, while aged pensioners are humiliated and flogged like beasts ,even their pensions are heartlessly denied them. Gentlemen of the press ,within the last two months ,Imo state ,has been shut down twice . The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress with other affiliate unions in the state have twice embarked on strikes .Aviation operations have been grounded twice Electricity supply to Imo has been cut off twice as it is the case now. Also, financial institutions in the state have halted all activities twice ,thereby crippling the economy of the state .”
Continuing, he Said , ” Imo today is in total blackout .All businesses have been strangulated . As we speak now , eleven thousand authentic Imo workers have been stigmatized as ghost workers and they are owed twenty months salary arrears . There were people verified by the past administration of the PDP ,and not a dime was owed to anyone by our government.
Worse still, ten thousand real Imo pensioners who are alive have alai been classified as ghost pensioners which are one of the major grouse of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union congress with Governor Hope Uzodimma” .
The party regretted that the mindless use of thugs and the instruments of coercion against Imo workers have now been elevated to a state policy by the government of Hope Uzodimma.
” During March 2023 delegates conference of the Nigeria Labour Congress in the state ,armed agents of the government went and unleashed mayhem on innocent comrades in Governor Uzodimma’ s desperate bid to impose a weak leadership on the Union . Yet , during the 2023 May Day celebration in the state , the same agents of the government invaded the venue and levied total war against the workers .Many were injured .This Madness must stop “.
The Peoples Democratic Party in Imo state stands firmly with Imo workers through these dark times. We are prepared to walk with them every step of the way to ensure that their Rights and Privileges are never trampled upon any longer by the dictatorship of the day “.
We ,therefore , invite Imo workers and indeed all Imolites ,to join forces with us in our determined agenda and program already set in motion to dislodge this cancerous government of Senator Hope Uzodimma on 11 November ,2023”.
