Bayelsa Teachers Set For Strike Over Minimum Wage

By Ayodele Oni

Academic programme is being threatened in Bayelsa State, as the Nigeria Union of Teachers, (NUT) is set to call members out to protest the non-payment of N30,000 minimum wage.

NUT threatened that the strike, which will be indefinite,  will affect public elementary and secondary schools.

The Union arrived at the decision during an executive meeting after a previous three-day warning strike failed to persuade the Bayelsa Government to take action.

The State Government and Local Councils have been given 14-day deadline by the teachers to address the issue of throughout the state or face strike.

The NUT listed the State and Local Government’s failure to implement the N30,000 minimum salary and to promote primary school teachers in the state as two of its issues.

The Union claimed that because promotion arrears were not paid to the teachers, they went through unimaginable suffering.

It expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s continued disregard for the predicament of teachers who play important roles in the state despite futile attempts to engage them in various fora.

The NUT added that the state’s primary and secondary school teachers had experienced nothing but embarrassment and frustration as a result of the government’s approach.

According to the union, the 14-day ultimatum went into effect on October 13 and that if the problems weren’t resolved within that time, state teachers would be forced to strike.

It was further gathered that the strike notice was approved by all eight of the NUT’s local government sections in Bayelsa.