NLC Demands for Immediate Payment of Workers Outstanding Salaries,Gratuities, Pension in Borno
As a matter of urgency, the Borno State Council of Nigeria Labour Congress NLC has demanded for immediate payment of all workers' outstanding backlog of gratuity, pension, leave grant, promotion allowance and monthly salaries of state civil servants, agencies, and parastatals.
It also demanded for immediate implementation of the new minimum wage of N18,000 in total to all the local government councils workers of the state along with the 30% CONTISS to health workers across the 28 LGAs of the state.
The Borno State Council of the NLC State Chairman, Comrade Titus Ali Abana who stated this today, Tuesday at the Workers May Day celebration in Maiduguri held at Ramat Square also said that the previous funds released by the state government to service the retiring workers was inadequate.
Comrade Abana urged Governor Kashim Shettima to fulfill his promises to the labour Union on the insufficient monthly allocation of N150 million for payment of workers gratuity by reviewing it to N250 million as he pledged last year.
While commending the state government for instituting an administrative committee on owner-occupier scheme of government houses for the civil servants, the chairman called on the governor to implement the owner occupier for civil servants scheme or policy immediately.
He lamented that civil servants have been retiring and those occupying government houses may continue to face crisis of continual allocation and occupancy of the houses they reside in while calling for immediate allocation of completed houses built by the state government to teachers, health and medical workers, industrial and labour workers among others.
Comrade Titus further said against the economic recession biting everyone in Nigeria, NLC called for the upward review of pension given to retirees in the state as some recieve N800 per month to sustain their families and have no other means of livelihood.
He commended the State House of Assembly for passing the 2018 budget while urging the executive arm of government to implement the budget accordingly in the interest of all and sundry while complaining on the federal mortgage bank deductions of workers salaries and abandonment of the housing estate project in Maiduguri.
The chairman faulted the state government biometric data capturing procedure and lamented that the process had denied several workers their salary payment for almost 11 months or over a year in some cases and Pensioners for over 11 months now without pay Kent of pension while appealing to the state government to conclude or review the system with a view to address the lingering problems that have deprived some workers from getting their salaries and of pensions uptil now.
He also commended the state government for introducing the biometric data capturing system but urged the government to expedite efforts to address the lingering problems bedeviling the exercise which led to 50% of workers not collecting their salaries and pensions.
The Labour Chairman appealed to the workers to continue to be patient and resilient while the Union impresses on the state government for their demands to consolidate their struggles despite the security challenges the state is exposed to in the hands of the boko haram insurgents.
While appreciating the state government efforts in accreditation of the newly created State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, the Labour Leader urged the state government to commission the agency and make it more useful and beneficial to the public.