Workers of Kwara State-owned media, including The Herald Newspapers, Radio Kwara, Kwara TV, and the Arts and Culture sector, are set to embark on a two-day warning strike starting Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
The decision comes in response to the perceived neglect by the state government in recognizing them and cultural workers as essential staff.
The joint notice, issued in Ilorin, the state capital, and signed by leaders of various unions, cites the state government’s failure to fulfill their demand for the implementation of 100 per cent essential allowances.
Among the aggrieved workers are members of the National Union of Paper Products, Printing, and Publishing Workers (NUPPPROW) and the Radio, Television, and Theatre Arts Workers Union (RATTAWU), along with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
The unions are urging an immediate revision of the weigh-in allowance to align with the N30,000 minimum wage and a 27 per cent increment based on grade level, which has yet to be implemented.
Additional concerns include the non-implementation of the 2021 and 2022 promotion exercises, inadequate equipment and facility upgrades, anomalies in annual increments, and career progression stagnation limiting workers in Radio Kwara and Kwara TV to Level 16 cadre.
Furthermore, the workers express discontent over the imposition of junior officers as corporation secretaries and controllers of finance and supply at state-owned media houses, circumventing global best practices.
The decision to initiate the warning strike follows unsuccessful extensive dialogue and negotiations, prompting the unions to take this industrial action to press for their demands.
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