May 22, 2015 : Fidelis Soriwei
General Secretary of the NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson
| credits: http://www.nigeriancurrent.com
| credits: http://www.nigeriancurrent.com
There are strong indications that workers in 18 states may start an indefinite strike on Monday over unpaid salaries.
The General Secretary of the NLC, Dr.
Peter Ozo-Eson, in a telephone interview with our correspondent on
Thursday in Abuja, said that the congress had sent its task force team
to various geo-political zones of the country.
According to him, the strike has started
in Plateau State, adding that a similar exercise will begin in Cross
River State and others on Monday.
The National Administrative Council of
the Nigeria Labour Congress had, on March 19, 2015, set up a task force
to pursue payment of salary arrears owed workers by some state
governments.
The report of the task force, which was
exclusively obtained by our correspondent, showed that 19 states are
owing salaries and pensions.
Ozo-Eson told our correspondent that the
NLC had sent its task forces to the affected states and directed those
who were being owed to begin strike.
He said, “The various Task Forces are
working. Plateau is on strike, Cross Rivers is going on Monday; the
various task forces are working.
“A team is leaving for Benue to commence action; they are now free to commence action and we are supporting them.”
The report of the Task Force of the NLC
revealed that while some of the states had paid salaries of workers up
to date, they were owing arrears of pensions running into months.
The states owing salaries or pensions
are Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, Cross River, Ekiti, Imo, Jigawa,
Kano, Katsina, and Kogi.
Others are Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers and Zamfara states.
However, a look at the report reveals
that Adamawa, Anambra, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Edo, the FCT, Gombe,
Kaduna, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Sokoto and Taraba are not
indebted to their workers.
The report stated that Abia State had not paid salaries of workers of the State Teaching Hospital for nine months.
The state is also said to be owing
workers of the Hospital Management Board eight months’ salary; Abia
State Universal Basic Education Board, six months; Abia State
Polytechnic, five months; local government workers, four months; and
teachers, three months’ salary arrears.
It was stated that while Enugu State had
paid salaries of civil servants up to date, parastatals were owed 12
months’ salaries and pension and gratuity remain unpaid since 2010.
Others states owing are Osun State with
six months’ salary and pension arrears; Plateau with six months salaries
and seven months pension; Benue with five months salaries and four
months pension arrears; Kogi with four months of pension and salary
arrears; and Oyo which owes three months salaries and between five and
11 months of pension arrears.
Also among the states which are likely
to owe salaries and pension of workers into the incoming administration
on May 29 are Ekiti with three months of unpaid salaries.
Jigawa is owing judiciary workers a month salary arrears in 2015.
Ondo owes one month salary and pension,
while Ogun is owing one month salary and 52 months of unremitted pension
deductions to the Pension Fund Administration.
Although Zamfara State has paid workers’
salaries up to date, the salaries of workers who were recruited in 2014
have not been paid.
The NLC Task Force also stated that
Rivers State owes one month of workers’ salaries and three months of
pension while Kano has yet to pay newly employed teachers for three
months.
However, the Task Force report was silent on the status of Yobe and Ebonyi on the ground that there was no information on them.
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