Workers strip to protest non-payment of bonuses in Delta

Money matter no be joke o! Aggrieved workers of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) went unclad on Monday to protest the alleged non-payment of their bonuses by the board of the commission.

The workers accused the state government and management of the agency of maltreating them by its refusal to pay workers including the controversial 13-month bonus (End of Year Bonus).

They also said the management refused to promote and pay retirement entitlements to pensioners of the commission as well as leave bonuses to workers of the commission since 2015 when the present board assumed office.

The aggrieved workers promised to continue with their protest until the state government listened to their demands and ensure that staff welfare was prioritised. They warned that if by next week their demands were not met, they would occupy government house and the State House Assembly.

A staff who spoke under a strict condition of anonymity said, “What we are protesting is statutory in our engagement later. In 2013 the commission complained that there is no money and appealed that we should allow our salaries to be slashed by 30 per cent and promised that once things improved it shall be restated but up till now it has not."