. As New Salary Structure For Workers Surface
.Youth Group Vow To Resist Strike
BY EXCEL CHIMA And GRACE IGWEANYI
The Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has appealed to
the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC at the national and State
levels to suspend their plans to embark on strike and protest over the concession
policy that temporarily suspended workers in some government run agencies and
Parastatals in the State.
In a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sam Onwuemedo, the Governor said Labour should re consider its stance having enjoyed a good working relationship with the State government since 2011.
He said at no time workers were sacked in the State but were temporarily suspended to allow the concessionaires come in to revive the ailing parastatals and agencies in the State.
The Statement said the leadership of Labour both at the national and State levels should have allowed a powerful committee comprising top officials of the State government, several bodies and Chairman of Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Sam Ohiri and Labour to review various issues affecting the workers.
Meanwhile,amidst plans by labour in Imo State to proceed on strike to protest the sack of some workers in State government run parastatals and agencies, this online newspaper has stumbled on a confidential document which outlines a new salary formula for workers in the Imo State civil service.
There was no independent confirmation of these claims, but a source said the new payment structure is in line with some measures adopted by the State government to ensure regular payment of workers’ salaries in the State in the face of austere times.
The document indicates that workers under level 1-6 will earn N20, 000. Level 7-9 will get N30, 000, while level 10-17 will get N50, 000.
Workers in Imo State receive N20, 000 as minimum wage as against N18, 000 paid to workers in other States of the Federation, though they lament that working benefits such as overtime, leave allowances and other allowances has been denied them by the State government for a long period.
This latest development is however coming on the heels of the resolve of a youth group led an aide to Governor Okorocha on Youth matters, Kenneth Emelu to oppose the planned workers strike.
Emelu led several youths to Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha last Friday at Government House, Owerri where they vowed to embark on a peaceful protest to showcase the achievements of the Rescue mission government.
They said they will stop any worker from going on strike and vowed to “contain” the activities of labour leaders that plan to invade the State to back the intending striking workers.
Sources told INNONEWS.COM that the new payment structure is to underscore and reinforce claims by the State government that it cannot cope with the over N4billion naira monthly wage bill of workers in Imo State.
The Imo state government has continuously said its monthly revenue from the Federation Account is dropping because of the drop in price of crude oil in the international market, stressing that in December 2015, it received a meager N1.9 billion naira as allocation.
This Newspaper further learnt that aside the drop in monthly federal allocation, the N25 billion naira bail- out funds Imo State received from the Central Bank of Nigeria in September 2015 to offset backlog of workers’ salaries is being deducted at source from the State monthly allocation.
Efforts to speak to the Head of Service of the State, Callistus Ekenze, on the new salary structure was not possible as at press time, but some official government sources denied knowledge of the new salary policy for workers.
The Imo State government had concessioned 19 parastatals and agencies to private run concessionaire, sacking some workers in the process. It later denied that the workers were not sacked but suspended based on the outcome of “a productivity test”.
Last Friday, the State Information Commissioner, Chidi Ibe, in a press release repeatedly aired by state run radio, ORIENT FM, said workers that were laid off because of the concession policy should proceed to Court to seek redress.
All Rights Reserved.
This Material and any other material on this platform
may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, written or
distributed in full or in part without written permission
from INNONEWS.COM
.Youth Group Vow To Resist Strike
BY EXCEL CHIMA And GRACE IGWEANYI
 |
| Imo Workers During One Of Their Protests |
In a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sam Onwuemedo, the Governor said Labour should re consider its stance having enjoyed a good working relationship with the State government since 2011.
He said at no time workers were sacked in the State but were temporarily suspended to allow the concessionaires come in to revive the ailing parastatals and agencies in the State.
The Statement said the leadership of Labour both at the national and State levels should have allowed a powerful committee comprising top officials of the State government, several bodies and Chairman of Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Sam Ohiri and Labour to review various issues affecting the workers.
Meanwhile,amidst plans by labour in Imo State to proceed on strike to protest the sack of some workers in State government run parastatals and agencies, this online newspaper has stumbled on a confidential document which outlines a new salary formula for workers in the Imo State civil service.
There was no independent confirmation of these claims, but a source said the new payment structure is in line with some measures adopted by the State government to ensure regular payment of workers’ salaries in the State in the face of austere times.
The document indicates that workers under level 1-6 will earn N20, 000. Level 7-9 will get N30, 000, while level 10-17 will get N50, 000.
Workers in Imo State receive N20, 000 as minimum wage as against N18, 000 paid to workers in other States of the Federation, though they lament that working benefits such as overtime, leave allowances and other allowances has been denied them by the State government for a long period.
This latest development is however coming on the heels of the resolve of a youth group led an aide to Governor Okorocha on Youth matters, Kenneth Emelu to oppose the planned workers strike.
Emelu led several youths to Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha last Friday at Government House, Owerri where they vowed to embark on a peaceful protest to showcase the achievements of the Rescue mission government.
They said they will stop any worker from going on strike and vowed to “contain” the activities of labour leaders that plan to invade the State to back the intending striking workers.
Sources told INNONEWS.COM that the new payment structure is to underscore and reinforce claims by the State government that it cannot cope with the over N4billion naira monthly wage bill of workers in Imo State.
The Imo state government has continuously said its monthly revenue from the Federation Account is dropping because of the drop in price of crude oil in the international market, stressing that in December 2015, it received a meager N1.9 billion naira as allocation.
This Newspaper further learnt that aside the drop in monthly federal allocation, the N25 billion naira bail- out funds Imo State received from the Central Bank of Nigeria in September 2015 to offset backlog of workers’ salaries is being deducted at source from the State monthly allocation.
Efforts to speak to the Head of Service of the State, Callistus Ekenze, on the new salary structure was not possible as at press time, but some official government sources denied knowledge of the new salary policy for workers.
The Imo State government had concessioned 19 parastatals and agencies to private run concessionaire, sacking some workers in the process. It later denied that the workers were not sacked but suspended based on the outcome of “a productivity test”.
Last Friday, the State Information Commissioner, Chidi Ibe, in a press release repeatedly aired by state run radio, ORIENT FM, said workers that were laid off because of the concession policy should proceed to Court to seek redress.
All Rights Reserved.
This Material and any other material on this platform
may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, written or
distributed in full or in part without written permission
from INNONEWS.COM
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