Workers at the Imo Transport Company (ITC) on Wednesday marched round major streets of Owerri to protest non-compliance with their demands by the company.
Among their grievances were non-payment of five months of salary arrears, non-payment of leave allowances and non-payment of the government-approved minimum wage.
The leader of the protesters, Mrs Eucheria Nwosu, said the protest was to draw the attention of the company’s management to the workers’ plight.
Nwosu, who is the vice-president of the workers’ union, said the situation had brought them great hardships.
She added that if nothing was done after the protest, the workers might resort to more violent actions to put their demands across.
Nwosu lamented that the ITC management had not showed any serious concern to remedy the problem, but rather subjected the workers to hard labour.
According to her, the non-payment of the salary arrears is enough for any worker to take to the streets.
She called on the management to take urgent actions to solve the problem because the morale of the workers had become very low.
Addressing the protesters, the Chairman of the ITC board, Mr Chucks Okonyia, said the company had concluded arrangements to pay the salary arrears.
Okonyia said the management was aware of the plight of its workers, but pleaded with them to be patient for the company to pay them their money.
According to him, the non-payment was not meant to punish the workers, but was caused by administrative bottlenecks.
He also commended the workers for their understanding so far.