The Nigerian Labour Congress, Bauchi State Chapter says about 3000 workers in Bauchi State were yet to be paid salaries for over 7 months.
The organized labour comprising Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Public Service Negotiation Council (JNC) while addressing journalists at the Union’s Secretariat in Bauchi expressed their dismay over the lingering salary imbroglio in the State.
The State NLC Chairman Comrade Danjuma Saleh said 3,722 workers are yet to receive their salaries for about seven months.
Comrade Saleh while appealing to Bauchi State Government to as a matter of urgency, settle all the outstanding salaries of their members, said; “In line with our principle of ‘An Injury to One is an Injury to all’, the Joint Executive Council of NLC/TUC has given its leadership the mandate to formally advise the government to, as a matter of urgency address all issues relating to non-payment of salaries and arrears to Civil Servants in the state and Local Governments, as well as enrollment of retirees into the state pension payroll”.
According to him, the organized labour had expressed its reservation and doubts over the capacity of the consulting firm handling the verification exercise, which he said has exceeded its time frame.
“You will recall that since the beginning of this year (2020) Messrs Dynatech Consultants were engaged by the state government to sanitize the payroll of government employees at the state and local government levels”.
“We were however assured that the firm is equal to the task. The labor then took the government by its words, nine months into its assignment as against the four months earlier planned” he said.
Comrade Saleh expressed dismay on how the firm had removed a sizable number of innocent and unsuspecting civil servants from the government’s payroll both at the state and local government levels.
“Such employees have been thrown into confusion and untold hardships occasioned by the stoppage of their salaries” Danjuma noted.
He described the category of civil servants affected to include those who have spent between 2-7 months without salaries, those whose salaries have been slashed without justification, others who have not been paid arrears for 2 to 3 months after being restored into payroll and some retired civil servants not enrolled into the pension payroll.
The State NLC Chairman advised the government to urgently set machinery into action to address all pending issues regarding workers’ salaries in the State.
