The Organised Labour in Niger state, has denied alleged claims by the Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Muhammad Idris that it agreed to accept 70% salaries for the month of June 2020.
Reacting to a press release credited to the Commissioner of Information and Strategy, in a statement on Monday, the Organized Labour said the Commissioner’s claim was “far from the truth, mischievous and misleading.”
It also emphasised that the ultimatum issued to the state government, which expires on 24th July 2020,is still in force.
“The statement is far from the truth, mischievous and misleading. In the first place, the Organized Labour represents the interest of all civil servants in Niger State, and to the best of our knowledge there was never a time the Organized Labour accepted pay cuts or deferment as he will want to claim, in fact we need to remind the commissioner that he was the same person that went on air to announce the payment of 70 percent salary payment to civil servants while discussions was still ongoing between Government Representatives (chaired by the Head of Service) and Civil servants (represented by the Organized Labour).
“This announcement successfully put an end to further discussion and the necessitated the Organized Labour to immediately issue seven (7) days strike ultimatum to the government to ensure the reversal of the announced directive.
“The Organized Labour wishes to make it clear to Nigerlites and civil servants in particular that the government was not able to convince the Organized Labour of its inability to pay 100 percent June salaries based on available facts and records. The Commissioner’s repetition of this claims that Niger State Government cannot pay 100% salaries is not factual.
“The Coronavirus pandemic, which the government is claiming to be the cause of salary cut, is in fact a conduit pipe for siphoning government funds as recently publicized by the Chairman House Committee on Covid-19 during a press briefing, which went viral across many media houses.
“The commissioner also claimed that previous administrations have had serious issues with the workforce ranging from salary increase to pension deductions and that when President Buhari’s administration reviewed workers salary upwards, the present administration did not hesitate nor negotiate with anyone before it announced the new salary increase, the above statement can only be justified if the commissioner is not a Nigerlite or a Nigerian for that matter, we advise the commissioner to check with the Office of the Head of Service before making false claims that he knows nothing about.
“If the change mantra is true, then the government should not have dragged itself into this industrial unrest by following the path of previous administrations.
“The fact is, when the minimum wage was reviewed to 30,000.00 naira by the federal government, Niger State government did not only hesitate but refused to go into dialogue with the Organized Labour for more than two (2) months, when eventually negotiations started, it was long and hard stretching into over two (2) weeks.
“Despite that the issues of contention were not resolved until civil servants went on strike as a result of which an agreement for the suspension of the strike was reached on the 9th of February 2020. Parts of that agreement are yet to be fulfilled by the present administration.
“The commissioner for information and strategy should please refer to the office of the Head of Service to avail himself with the agreement. The commissioner’s accession that there was no persuasion before the administration reviewed the new minimum wage is a blatant lie from what we have seen above.
“The commissioner was only right on one score, that the payment of salaries is a constitutional matter but he dubiously failed to acknowledge that so also is the issue of salary deferment which must be done with the consent of the Organized Labour who constitutionality represents the workforce from whose entitlements these deferment was made.
“Since the commissioner agrees that the payment of salary is a constitutional matter, the government by its action of cutting civil servants salaries by 30 percent without their consent is clearly in violation of constitutional provisions.
“The questions begging for answers from civil servants through the Organized Labour are:
a) Can we trust an administration that peddles falsehood and is known for not honoring obligations again?
b) Can the commissioner avail the public and civil servants the agreement reached between the government and Organized Labour on the deferment of salary payment?
c) Why was the commissioner silent on a timeline for the payment of the illegally slashed 30%?
“Organized Labour therefore wish to make it categorically clear that at no point did it agree with the government on behalf of civil servants for the deferment of salaries and remain resolute in pursuing the constitutional right of every civil servant.
“The Organized Labour also wish to reiterate that the ULTIMATUM issued to NIGER STATE GOVERNMENT is still in place, all civil servants are enjoined to comply with various directives on the commencement of three (3) days fasting and prayers, while the warning strike will commence by the expiration of the ultimatum on 24th July, 2020 if the government did not pay the balance of 30% at the expiration of the ultimatum,” the Labour stated.
It called on civil servants to have confidence on its ability to fight for their rights.
“Civil servants should have full confidence in the Organized Labour’s ability to fight for their rights come what may. We are not intimidated, the commissioner was just been typical of the fact that “A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul”.
