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By Bimbola Oyesola 08033246177, [email protected]
Organised Labour has vowed to resist non-payment of gratuity to workers, noting that the 2014 Pension Amendment Act did not stop the payment of gratuity to workers by employers.
The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), at a media briefing in Lagos recently, explained that the payment of gratuity to workers should be an important item in the workers’ entitlement.
Acting national president of the union, Tommy Etim Okon, stated that gratuity was a portion of the percentage of the amount given to an employee after a period of service and that pension is tied to gratuity, but, regretably, many workers do not know it.
He said: “Government no longer pays gratuity. It is an issue we must fight and get. If they want to amend the 2014 Pension Act, it should be amended with the line of knowledge we have. We are calling for the amendment of the act. We are no longer safe; we are challenging the government with it.
“In this regard, we have advised our members to keep their records intact right from the day they joined service. It must be provided and if we get it right, we can now fight with it.”
He lamented that even the so-called pension was not being paid to workers as expected, lamenting that most workers, after retirement, die prematurely as they have practically nothing to fall back on.
Besides gratuity, the ASCSN president said the union, among others things, has written the Federal Government to demand a review of wages based on the present economic situation in the country.
He lambasted governors who have failed to implement the National Minimum Wage despite the fact that it has become law since President Muhammad Buhari signed it, adding that the union would ensure payment in those states.
According to the ASCSN boss, 10 governors have been recalcitrant in implementing the National Minimum Wage, which has been established as law binding on all the employers in goverment or the private sector.
The 10 of the 36 states yet to implement the wage include Imo, Benue, Anambra, Kano, Bauchi, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Taraba and Zamfara.
Giving an update on implementation level by some of the states, Okon said Anambra and Taraba had concluded negotiation but had not begun implementation. He mentioned that Bauchi, Benue, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa and Zamfara were still in the process of negotiation, while Imo State is yet to begin negotiation.
While he commended states that had concluded negotiations and implemented the wage, he mentioned that not only had Kano State not commenced negotiation but also reduced workers’ salaries.
Okon said it was an aberration for any government to reduce or contemplate not paying salary that was already passed into law.
He said labour had exhausted all mechanisms in industrial relations and collective bargaining and would not hesitate to clamp down on recalcitrant states.
He said, “Our wage is our right. We are not begging.The state government is saying they cannot pay and they have refused to tell us how much they spend on security vote with the level of insecurity in the country. They refused to tell us how many personal assistants they have; they refused to tell us how much they have used to feed their dogs weekly. The problem of industrial relations is not caused by the workers themselves but by government. This is man’s inhumanity to man.
“Why do you renege on an agreement when you know that it is a potential time bomb? When we enter into agreement, it is a simple rule of collective bargaining. We have arrived at a collective agreement and you are reneging without informing the parties involved and see how we can discuss periodically.”
He condemned the unilateral step taken by the Ekiti State government to slash workers’ salary without due consultation with organised labour.
“Minimum wage is a law, hence there’s no way we can negotiate with any governor to slash salary, the act by Ekiti State governor is lawlessness and we are not going to accept it. We will soon launch out, already we are doing our due diligence on whatever reasons he has adduced and we can prove that there is no truth to it,” he said.
