The leadership of the organized labour in Taraba State has again called on the outgoing state governor, Arc Darius Dickson Ishaku, to pay the yearly increments to eligible workers before bowing out of office next Monday.
Making the demand on Wednesday in a press briefing in Jalingo, the state capital, they expressed sadness at the failure of the governor to implement the new national minimum wage of N30,000.
Lack of implementation of promotions, lack of payment of yearly increments, lack of payment of pension and gratuity, non-remittance of union dues and other deductions made from salaries of workers by the government, among others, are the numerous challenges the organized labour wants Ishaku’s government to address before May 29.
The organized labour, who spoke through the chairman of the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, JPSNC, Dame Musa, felt sad at the refusal of the state government to honour its part of the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed between labour and the government.
The government, according to them, “has refused to implement the minimum wage and we must continue to demand for it to be implemented.”
Arguing that Taraba is the only state in the North-East and one of the three states in the country that has not implemented the new minimum wage of N30,000, the State, as made known by them, is listed among non-compliant States with a blurred image and negative rating both at national and international levels.
The organized labour also said they “will continue to comment on the backlog of gratuity of over N22 billion that is standing against the State Government.”
More worrisome, as jointly emphasized by them, “is the case of some employees from Local Government Service and Universal Basic Education Board who have retired from service for over five years now and are yet to be payrolled for pension.”
“Having put up 35 years in the service of their fatherland, these individuals – are left without any form of benefit.
“Some have died; others who are living can hardly feed their families”.