Textile workers to protest against non-payment of dues

03 Sep '08

2 min read

As many as 450 workers of the nearly collapsed textile industry of Nigeria have died due to deplorable living conditions and poverty and others of the same rank and a witness to these brutal circumstances fear meeting a similar fate.

Workers of Kaduna Textiles (KTL) under the aegis of Workers Share Trust Fund have lamented the sudden dismantling of the textile industry which is gradually taking a toll on its workers as well.

Coordinator of the Workers Share Trust Fund, Wordam Simdik, told the media that since 2002, workers had been asked to leave the factories but no provision were made as to the payment of either the pension or the gratuity. Besides, the N70 billion textile revival funds promised to the industry by the Government had also been left in the limbo.

Workers were thereafter left with the only option of appealing to President Umaru Yar'Adua and Northern Governors Forum to come to their aid and help them to survive by having their due payments sanctioned.

Workers have also threatened to undertake peaceful protest and rallies to ensure their sustenance and an escape from the drastic end that embraced those 450 unfortunate members. While Mr Mohammed Namadi Sambo, Governor of Kaduna State, was appreciated by the workers for his efforts to revive KTL, it was President Yar'Adua who they relied on for rescuing the textile industry from the ravages of time.

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