The Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr Fidet Okhiria, has pleaded with railway workers to call off their strike while their requests were been processed.
Okhiria made the plea while briefing newsmen in Lagos on Friday.
He pleaded for better communication while awaiting positive response for the workers demand.
“We can see the attention railway is getting now compared to six years ago; the attention is there because government is putting more efforts in ensuring that railway is viable in Nigeria.
“We will work in ensuring that the workers gets better salary, the process in ongoing and we are keeping them abreast on quarterly basis but not everyone understands the process,”Okhiria said.
He urged the NRC workers to hope for better welfare, saying the union had the right to express their grievance which the government was addressing.
He appealed with the workers to return to work, saying that the corporation expected positive response from National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission.
The Deputy President General, Nigerian Union of Railway Workers, Mr Rufus Afolayan, said that the union had resolved to continue the three-day warning strike.
Afolayan said: “After Saturday which is going to be the third-day of the strike, we don’t know what will happen next.
“We have been having meetings with some government agencies comprising of the management of Nigerian Railway Corporation and the Ministry of Transportation in Abuja on way forward.
“If our demands have not been fulfilled, we will continue with the strike. We had met with the Minister of Transportation last week in Lagos and nothing good had come out of our discussion.
” We requested for better enhancement of salary; for example all the locomotive are been insured and non of the train pilot was insured by the management.”
He solicited approval of their request for better welfare for railway workers to enable them care for their families.
