Bauchi State Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has assured that it will continue to partner with the State Government under the leadership of the Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir on his giant strides towards the provision of infrastructure in the state.
The NLC specifically mentioned the areas of road construction, Housing development, provision of portable drinking water, construction of Hospitals, schools and provision of public transport as well as other social amenities.
The assertion was made by the NLC chairperson, Comrade Dauda Shuaibu while speaking to newsmen saying that the recent provision of palliatives by the Governor which comprised food and cash support to the citizens and workers has greatly assisted the working class and their families.
On the payment of LTG and wage award, he said “Your Excellency, we appreciate the recent payment of LTG to Workers in the State and the recent approval for the Local Government service. This has brought succour to the workers which the previous administrations in the past ten years could not achieve in spite of several appeals. We also appreciate the payment of N10000 Wage Award to workers in the state.”
On prompt payment of salaries and implementation of promotions for state and local government workers, he said “Your Excellency, we must commend your administration with regards to the payment of monthly staff salaries in the State and Local Government. Apart from stabilising the system, the payment is regular and as of when due.
“We also appreciate the regular release and implementation of promotions to deserving workers in the State and local governments.
On the provision of support for Local Training, he stressed, “Your Excellency, we also wish to register and appreciate your support in terms of local training for labour leaders within and outside the State which is being facilitated by the office of the Head of Civil Service. We are happy to report that the training has positively impacted on the leadership and labour administration generally in the state.
“We appeal for extension of the training to all levels of leadership in the State to ensure that everybody is carried along. We appreciate His Excellency on adequate provision of fertilizer on loan to civil servants in the state and local government service during last year’s farming season.”
He, however, stated that the NLC has special appeals which include the provision of fertilizer and farm inputs at the early stage of farming season which is a sign of commitment and support to the workers which your administration has been executing annually since your assumption of office in the last six years.
“We are, therefore, appealing that this year, the same gesture should also be given accelerated attention to enable farmers, workers and citizens to get access to the materials at affordable rates. Agriculture and food security is the number one stabilizer of the economy of the state and the nation through the provision of jobs and food for the common man.
“We appreciate the efforts of your administration towards the upsetting of the backlog of gratuity and the regular payment of monthly pension to our senior citizens. We also appeal for additional funding on the monthly allocation to the state and local government pension boards to enable them to cover a significant number of retirees.”
He also stressed the payment of salaries and pensions through the consultants saying, “We recognize and appreciate the effort of the administration on the regular payment of salaries and pensions particularly the settlement of the huge backlog of omissions accrued over time. We appeal to His Excellency to ensure the total disengagement of consultants handling the payment of workers’ salaries in the state. It is our candid view that they are doing more harm than good to the system. The majority of workers are not happy with the way they operate.”
The NLC also appealed for the re-activation of the M/cycle and car loan scheme which is a revolving one and had a seed capital domiciled in the office of the Accountant General to enable some category of workers to benefit as part of the welfare scheme for workers in the state.
While appreciating the commencement of payment N10,000 wage award to all workers in the state, it equally appealed to the Governor to consider the continuous payment of the wage award pending the approval and payment of the new minimum wage.
The wage award aims to alleviate the current economic hardship being experienced by workers in particular and entire citizens. It is intended to cover six months.
