Workers of Imo State Transport Corporation (ITC) is in dilemma following snippets of information of an imminent sack of over 300 staffers of the corporation. Those on the firing list are workers employed by the Imo State Government which the management consultancy firm, Ginikana intends to sack and replace with his staffers. The workers are said to be averse to the intention of the consultancy firm, but the Emeka Duru led agency is said to be bent on carrying out the exercise as part of concession agreement/ arrangement he allegedly entered into with the Imo State Government on ITC. Plans to fire the workers was said to have been in the plans of the consultancy, but has been severally restrained by top officials of the Rochas Okorocha Administration. The consultancy firm is said to have been lamenting that it cannot continue to carry on with the huge wage bill of the corporation, if sack measures are not taken against some unproductive workers. A source told Imo Trumpeta that Ginikana Consultancy had allegedly employed some ad-hoc staffers and workers, a development which has swelled the workforce of ITC. The source further revealed that these measures had triggered a face-off between the consultancy firm and one Emeka Okoro, who is said to be the leader of ITC workers union. The altercations between the duo was said to have taken a new dimension when the workers dragged Ginikana Firm to an Industrial and Arbitration court, a court that settles industrial disputes. This earned Okoro a “reprisal attack” as he was allegedly transferred outside Owerri. This newspaper gathered that what deepened the ongoing cold war was when Ginikana Firm allegedly threatened to sack any staff that refuses to sign an undertaking that they will not support the matter. This led to serious bickering in the corporation, as some staffers alleged that they have not received their monthly salaries since January this year. Speaking to Imo Trumpeta on phone, Chief Emeka Duru denied the allegations leveled against his Consultancy Firm. He said that workers’ salary has been regular, as they have collected their January pay. He said those who might not have received their salaries are those who refused to conform to a new payment system which entails workers opening an account with one of the new generation banks. He stated that those sacked from the corporation are those involved in criminal actions and activities against ITC, stating such punitive measure was put in place to sanitize the corporation to enable it achieve optimum results. Duru explained that such measure is a continuous process as his consultancy agency is bent on taking ITC to higher heights. On the transfer of Emeka Okoro, Chairman, ITC Workers Union, he said it is a normal procedure to transfer workers and staffers in the corporation, adding that Okoro cannot be fighting his agency and state government whom he dragged to court and expect to remain within the ambit of ITC.
