The Nigerian Labour Congress has expressed its dissatisfaction with the sluggish progress of the workers’ verification process currently being undertaken by the Abia State Government.
The official stance of the union was articulated on Thursday through a press release, which was endorsed by the Chairman of the Abia NLC, Nweke Paschal and the Secretary, Emma Alozie. This announcement followed the State Executive Council meeting of the union.
The NLC has expressed its support for Governor Alex Otti’s verification exercise and welfare package. However, the organisation has raised concerns regarding the alleged harsh treatment of state personnel during the ongoing verification process.
According to the press release,“We are pained by the plight of Abia workers in their efforts to be verified. We therefore state that a situation where up to six MDAs that have not less than 400 to 700 workers are invited for verification on a day is unacceptable to Labour.
“A situation where workers are subjected to in-human conditions is unacceptable to Labour. A situation where workers are forced to report for verification for days without being captured under this hard condition occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy without palliative from the State government is unacceptable to Labour.
“We are saddened by the fact that most workers are yet to receive their salaries under the excuse of having not been captured as a result of glitches which are not their own fault.
“For fairness and justice sake, we call on the executive governor, His Excellency, Alex Chioma, Otti as a matter of urgency, to approve payment of the salaries of those affected, to ameliorate their sufferings. This is from the background that they remain Abia workers until proved otherwise through verification exercise.”
The NLC asked that no State employee be victimised during the verification process and further stated that the duration of the exercise should not be determined by the contractor managing the process.
In addition to these concerns, the organised labour has requested the reinstatement of adequate lighting at the International Conference Centre, where the ongoing verification process is taking place. This is to ensure a well-ventilated and conducive environment for the workers. Furthermore, the labour group has urged for an extension of the closing date for the verification process, in order to accommodate the inclusion of all workers.
