Posted by The Abia State Government’s slowness in conducting the workers’ verification exercise has angered the Nigerian Labour Congress, or NLC.
After its State Executive Council meeting on Thursday, the Abia NLC’s Chairman Nweke Paschal and Secretary Emma Alozie issued a press release outlining the union’s position.
The NLC criticized the manner in which civil personnel were allegedly exposed to cruel treatment during the ongoing verification while endorsing the verification process and the benefit package proposed by Governor Alex Otti.
the news announcement claims,
“We are heartbroken by the predicament of Abia workers as they seek verification. Therefore, we declare that it is unacceptable to Labour for up to six MDAs with a minimum of 400 to 700 workers to be asked for verification on a given day.
“Labor rejects situations in which employees are exposed to inhumane treatment. Labour deems it intolerable for employees to be required to report for verification for days on end without being arrested as a result of the State government’s decision to end gasoline subsidies without providing a solution.
“We regret that the majority of employees have not yet received their salaries, claiming that system errors that were not their fault prevented them from being caught.
For the purpose of fairness and justice, we urgently request that the executive governor, His Excellency, Alex Chioma, Otti, authorise the payment of the affected individuals’ salaries in order to lessen their suffering. This is because, unless and until they can be verified, they are still considered to be Abia employees.
The NLC insisted that no State employee should be mistreated during the verification process and added that the timeframe of the exercise should not be set by the contractor managing it.
In addition to these, the organized labor demanded that the International Conference Centre, where the verification was taking place, reopen so that all of the workers could be apprehended. This was done to ensure that they were working in ventilated and comfortable conditions.
Ferdinand Ekeoma, Governor Alex Otti’s special adviser on media and publicity, did not reply to messages seeking a response.