NLC, TUC conclude plan to embark on industrial action in C’River over unfulfilled promises

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and her counterpart, the Trade Union Congress (TUC), in Cross River state have concluded plans to embark on industrial action today to register its displeasure over what it referred to as unfulfilled promises by the Governor Ben Ayade-led government.

Our findings revealed that the action would affect all government establishment in the state.

The groups accused state government of refusal to pay in full all gratuities of retired civil servants, promote civil servants, release impress to ministries and terminate the use of consultants in the payment of salaries.

The group said the general assembly voted in favour of the strike action and nothing they could do for now.

“There is nothing we can say when the general assembly votes in favour of an industrial action.

You know we are leaders and our mandate is validated by the general union assembly, if they have voted in favour of a strike, there is nothing we can do” the Chairman of NLC, Comrade John Ushie, was quoted of saying.

He told local media monitored in Calabar by our correspondent that labour will ensure that the Ministry of Local Government and Office of the Head of Service remained under lock and key until the Cross River State Government clears her statutory financial obligations to all categories of staff in the local government system in the state.

The industrial action, we gathered, would likely cripple a state currently experiencing a plethora of seemingly self inflicted problems that have left citizens seriously agitated.

It was revealed that the strike action will be indefinite as attempts to make government see reason with labour’s demands have met a brick wall.

Consequently, it was observed that the government workers in the office of the Head of Service and the Ministry of Local Government, charged with the responsibility of making sure that “people in the local government councils are paid, constantly demonstrate a nonchalant attitude in discharging their civil responsibilities.

“They cannot continue to double speak on this issue when the evidence shows clearly that several civil servants in the local government areas are owed salaries and another considerable number suffer because of the irregularities that have been injected into the payroll system ,” Ushie stated .

On the vexed issue of consultants, contracted by the state government to verify salary figures in the LG system, Ushie condemned in strong terms the work done so far by the consultants.

He demanded that the state government must do away with the consultants because of their demonstrable lack of professional capacity to do the job.

“You can imagine that for image capturing across the 18 LGAs in the state, the consultants were capturing images with their smart phones. They did not have proper image and data capturing equipment… that is just one example.

Now a lot of our people are suffering. Can you also imagine that people in Cross River state collect pay slips and Government of Anambra State is inscribed on these slips?

“So because the consultants worked in Anambra state and did not exhaust whatever customized materials they used in working there, when they came to our state they had not the common sense to customize materials for Cross River State but tacitly re-christened us as Anambra state, it is very sad” he stated.

He noted that labour wants the state government to revert to the Integrated Personnel Payroll System, IPPS, of the Liyel Imoke administration, which has been tested and proven overtime, so that the sufferings that most civil servants in the state are currently going through, will be taken away.

When our correspondent called on Comrade Ushie to comment on further preparation for the strike action, he pick not his calls but answered text message saying that all the unions and affiliates are set for the strike action to commenced today.