Medical practitioners employed by the Melut Development Committee Wednesday threatened to sue the organization over a pay dispute.
The health workers were employed on the 3 percent allocation of oil revenues to the producing areas.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, a theatre nurse, Alfred Arol, said the Melut Community Development contracted him and his colleagues from September 2022 on a basis that they would be paid in US dollars but earlier this year, the organization decided to pay them in the South Sudanese Pounds at a lower rate.
“We have a complained against the Melut Development Committee. We signed a contract with them that we would be paid monthly in US dollars, but they failed to honor the agreement and started paying us in the South Sudanese Pounds at a rate lower than the current market rate for two months,” he said.
“We petitioned them in the Ministry of Labor so that the issue could be handled according to the law. I have now handed a summon to them to appear before the labor office on Nov 26th for a solution,” he said.
He also complained that they had not been paid for the past eight months and so they sought justice from the Ministry of Labor or they would be forced to go to court.
“We don’t have the capacity to continue working while we haven’t been paid for the past eight months and if the labor office fails to address the issue, we will file a case in the court of law to seek justice,” Arol said.
“There was a series of discussions since February but all their agreements are not honored. They decided to pay us in SSP at a lower rate and it is like we are slaves in the house of a master,” he said.
Efforts to reach the Melut Development Committee for comments were unsuccessful.