Forum Of Joint Local Governments In Nasarawa Trade Union To Embark Strike From Tomorrow Over Reduction of LGAs Staff
Rabiu Omaku
The Forum of Joint Local Government Trade Union in Nasarawa state would tomorrow embarked on industrial action over the reduction of their salary.
The warning strike was contained in a statement signed by the state chairman Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees, The state chairman Medical and Health Workers Union, NANNM, NUT,NUP,NASU dated 28/10/2015 and made available to Journalists.
The Unions expressed displeasure over the slash in their salaries without any cogent reasons given, Labour considers salary as a right and not a privilege and all Local Government workers wish to sound unequivocally clear that this is totally unacceptable and tantamount to corruption, Despite the chunk amount of money given by the Governor, The statement stated.
“For example somebody who is collecting N200,000.00 per month will now collect the sum of N70,000.00 without any cogent reason because as it is now the N4.3 bn in addition to our October outstanding salary of N1.4 bn bringing the amount to N5.7 bn.
“The message from his Excellency was very clear and unambiguous that they should go and pay outstanding salaries to genuine Local Government workers who are being owned salaries for two and half months”. But to our greatest surprise it was an opposite.
The Joint Union faulted concerned authority for thwarting with previous agreement with Permanent secretary and Council chairmen as the statement read in part
1.That Labour has earlier on agreed with the state Government to conduct screening exercise in all the thirteen Local Government in other to fish out ghost workers and to also correct other anomalies within the system as the objective was to sanitize the third tier of Government.
2.The Union disagreed over bio-metric and data capture exercise conducted by Skye Bank, As they said it was not part of the agreement.
3.The Union expressed displeasure and kick against the attempt to sack non-Indigenes working in the state
“Labour may not want any industrial disharmony with the Government but may be compelled by the inaction of the Government as the Unions has already commenced the full mobilization of all Local Government workers in the state to embark on a three day warning strike action which may eventually lead to a very peaceful protest across the state by the Local Government Workers because as the saying goes, “A HUNGRY MAN IS AN ANGRY MAN”.
The Forum of Joint Local Government Trade Union stated that Local Government workers are languishing in abject poverty, stagnation, deprivation, agony in spite of the outstanding two and half months salary owned civil servants, calling on the state Government to act fast in other to avert any confrontation with labour on the matter.
