FCTA workers begin strike Monday
Workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) will commence an indefinite strike action on Monday, the President of the FCT Joint Unions Action Committee (JUAC), Rifkatu Iortyer, said in Abuja.
The President said at a press conference that the strike action, which would commence 12 midnight on January 19, will include all FCTA staff, College of Education, Zuba and staff of senior secondary schools.
According to Iortyer, the strike followed “breach of trust, inaction and deliberate demoralisation” of workers by the FCT Administration.
In an address titled: “A Plethora of Festering Issues,” Iortyer presented an 11-point ‘sins’ of the FCTA management, accusing it of financial malfeasance, systemic failure and bad faith against employees, among others.
The union highlighted the non-remittance of pension and National Housing Fund (NHF) deductions as a “serious breach of trust and a threat to the future security of its members.”
The union also demanded the immediate removal of retired directors and permanent secretaries, calling their tenure extension a “clear contravention” of Public Service Rules.
“We are appalled by the illegal extension of tenure of retired officers,” Iortyer stated.
The union also rejected the promotion recently approved for 2,000 FCT staff out of the over 7,000 staff that sat for the promotion exercise.
“We say no to the deliberate mass failure of the 2024 promotion exams with the intention of not paying promotion arrears,” Iortyer said, calling the process a system “designed to fail and demoralise our members.”
Other grievances include unpaid promotion arrears, poor working conditions, staff intimidation, lack of training and the non-payment of Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) enforcement officers.
She said, “We demand an immediate action on these issues. We will not be silenced by inaction. It is on this note that I declare an indefinite strike action from Monday, January, 2026.”
Our correspondent reports that the strike action will paralyse operations across FCTA’s secretariat, departments and agencies.
The FCTA management is yet to issue an official response to the strike declaration.
