Locomotive drivers and workers of the Nigerian Railway Corporation or NRC started a three-day warning strike on Thursday over low salary payments and poor welfare.
The workers protested at the train stations in Lagos, Oyo and Abuja. They accused Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi of depriving them of their rights.
“It will interest you to know that our minimum wage is N30,000, so when you deduct contributory housing scheme, pension, union dues and tax, the salary drops down to N26,000.” Nigeria Union of Railway Workers president Innocent Ajiji said.
“And that’s is the take-home of the railway workers, no allowance, nothing. That’s why we have decided to embark on this protest.
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“Our passengers that are riding on our train are insured, every good that we carry on our train is insured, but funnily enough, those operating the train are not insured.
“You could remember that four weeks back, there was a bomb blast on the train tracks if something had happened to those drivers, I am assuring you that the only thing that government would have paid them is expenses allowance which is less than N1 million, so we are demanding that our workers be insured so that if anything happens to them, the company will pay the next of kin a reasonable amount of money.”
Mr Ajiji added that their standard of working conditions “should be reviewed”.
The workers’ protests will continue until Saturday. They warned they would strike indefinitely if their demands were not met.
