NLC threatens strike over unpaid salaries
The national leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has
threatened to embark on a strike as 11 state governments have not
paid the December salaries to their workers.
The organised labour called on its chapters in Benue, Plateau and
Osun states to serve their respective governments an ultimatum within which to pay the workers’ salary arrears of between three and eight months or risk a strike.
The President of the NLC, Mr. Abdulwaheed Omar, who made the
comment in an ‘End of Year Message,’ called on the workers to vote
against any politician who failed to pay their salaries in the 2015
elections.
He said that any governor who was not able to pay the salaries of
workers in his state had no justification to receive his own salaries
too.
Omar said that some employees of the Federal Government in the
Ministry of Labour and Productivity were being owed between one to
three months’ salary areas.
He said, “Collated reports from our state councils indicate that a
number of state governments and some Federal MDAs have not paid
their workers for December as the year comes to an end.
“Of the 30 states reporting as of the 30th of December, 11 subjected
their workers to a Christmas/New Year celebration without the
December salary.
“Three of these states, Benue, Plateau and Osun, owed their workers
arrears of salaries ranging from three to eight months. Some Federal
Government employees in the ministries of Education, Labour and
Productivity, among others, are owed arrears of salaries ranging from
one to three months.
“We condemn this insensitivity to the welfare of workers. Any state
governor, who cannot pay workers their salaries, as at when due, has
no moral justification for taking his own salary and allowances.
“We call on workers to massively reject these anti-worker politicians in
the 2015 elections. Meanwhile, we direct our state NLC councils in
the three states mentioned above to serve appropriate ultimatums on
their government to pay the arrears of salaries or face disruption of
services.”
Omar warned the Federal Government against imposition of general
austerity measures on the citizenry, which he said could further
aggravate the suffering of the ordinary worker.
He said that the most tenable way to manage the current budget
under austerity was a drastic reduction in the cost of governance in
the country.
He called for a cut in the Presidential fleet, the cost of running the
State House, a reduction in the number of aides who add no value to
governance and political office holders in the country.
Omar, who supported the decision of the Federal Government to tax
the rich, advised against any move to sack workers.
He added, “While we appreciate the difficulties brought by the collapse
in oil prices, we caution against the imposition of unselective austerity
measures. Already, workers continue to bear the brunt of the savage
devaluation of the Naira with a possibility of collateral consequences.
“We also strongly advise against any consideration for rationalisation
of workforce. We support the government initiative to tax the rich
through luxury taxes. More importantly, we are convinced that the
surest way to manage the budget under austerity is to reduce the cost
of governance.
“Bloated prerequisites of political office holders must be cut. The
prerequisites and comfort of politicians need to reflect the reality of
the times. Mr. President and the State House must lead in this regard.
The size of the Presidential fleet, the cost of running the State House
and the retinue of political jobbers can all be reasonably cut without
reducing the effectiveness of the Presidency.”
He also condemned what he described as the imposition of
exploitative electricity tariff on the citizenry, saying such a move could
culminate in an unpleasant situation as indicated by the protest
against the move in some of the cities across the country such as
Benin, Enugu, Lagos and Kano.
