Workers of Taraba State-owned tertiary institutions under the Joint Action Committee of Tertiary Institutions in Taraba State (JACTI) have declared a two-week warning strike to press home their demands to the Taraba State Government.

The workers said the strike action became the only option as the state government failed to meet their demands despite the 14-day strike ultimatum issued earlier by the union to the state government, which elapsed over a month ago.

Chairman of JACTI, Misa N. Gaji, alongside the Secretary, Abdulkarim Z. Dangana, announced the warning strike shortly after a meeting they held in Jalingo on Thursday.

According to the Joint Action Committee for Taraba State-owned Tertiary Institutions, which comprises five tertiary institutions in the state, the decision followed over four months of dialogue with the state government for the implementation of CATA/CONTA and EAA for its members, without a positive result.

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The committee further stated that the issues in contention include indiscriminate deduction of staff salaries for ID cards and APER forms without issuance, un-notified deduction for Health Insurance Scheme without enrollment, non-implementation of yearly increments and step movements for over ten years.

The committee also pointed out that other contentious issues include withholding of union dues and multipurpose savings, and non-implementation of the N70,000 transport relief for public servants.

The committee said it viewed the silence of the government as a deliberate attempt to frustrate its efforts and cause untold hardship to its members.

It further warned that if the state government fails to act at the expiration of the two-week warning strike, it will consider the wishes of its congresses to embark on an indefinite strike action in line with labour laws.