By Damilare Adeleye
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) chapter of the Medical and Health Workers’ Association has suspended its indefinite strike for a month.
The Chairman of the union, Adetoye Ayodeji, confirmed this development in a telephone interview with newsmen on Friday, adding that the strike was suspended after a meeting with the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, on Thursday.
At the meeting, it was resolved that the union would suspend its strike for a month to allow Mr Ribadu to mediate with the NAFDAC management on their behalf.
“It was suspended for one month. Mr Ribadu took it upon himself that he was going to engage and he asked that we give him some time. We considered that one month should be enough for this. It was suspended for one month to allow the mediation process,” Mr Ayodeji disclosed.
The union had earlier embarked on an indefinite strike to protest over ‘poor welfare conditions and remuneration’ by the agency’s management.
The workers declared the strike after a 14-day ultimatum issued to management on 20 September expired without resolution of the issues in contention.
The union demanded among other things, the payment of 2022 outstanding salary arrears for employees and the disbursement of all outstanding burial expenses, life insurance payments, and repatriation allowances.
It called for an immediate review and re-evaluation of the 2024 Promotion Examination results, which it claimed saw a pass rate of only 35 per cent.
The association said it deemed the percentage of those who passed the exam unacceptable and demanded a minimum pass rate of 80 per cent for current and future examinations. It also called for the review of the current promotion examination content, describing it as excessively academic and disconnected from actual staff responsibilities.
It also expresses concern over the “practice of staff members personally financing local and foreign trips and subsequently seeking reimbursement.
“Moving forward, all official travel expenses must be fully covered by management prior to the commencement of any local or international trips,” the union said.