There are impending mass protests and strike action by civil and public servants in Ebonyi State following what the workers described as illegal deduction from their salaries by the State government even before the signing into law of the pension law by the state governor, Chief David Umahi.Speaking with LEADERSHIP in Abakaliki, some of the civil servants especially members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers NUT expressed dismay over the deduction adding that in the month of January, between N5000 and N4000 was deducted from the salaries for Senior workers while N2000 and N1000 was deducted from that of junior workers.Some of them who spoke on grounds of anonymity said that the action of the State government amounts to insincerity and extortion and urged the State Governor, Chief David Umahi to immediately direct the complete payment of their salaries and ensure that such actions were not melted on teachers again.According to them; it is shameful and unfortunate that while other state government are making frantic effort to alleviate the suffering of their workers in the country, Ebonyi State government are busy implementing policies that would suffocate their workers. Just recently, the Governor announced a 5% increment in our salaries and few months after, their started talking about pension law.While the pension bill is still before the State House of Assembly, the State government commenced illegal deduction of our salaries. We are calling on the State government to immediately reverse the action and pay us our complete salaries.The teachers who stated that they could no longer trust the leadership of their union to take action against the state government warned that failure to reverse the illegal deduction; they would not hesitate to commence mass protest against the state government as well as strike action.Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Labour Relations, Comrade Grace Chukwu has denied any deduction of workers salaries before the passage of the new pension law recently signed by the Governor.Comrade Chukwu who expressed surprise that the labour leaders who were part of the process that led to the emergence of the new pension law could claimthat they were not involved before the passage of the law urged them to support the new pension lawThe labour leader were consulted, they were involved in the whole process. They were there at the state House of Assembly during public hearing on the matter and they made their input. We are surprised that they issued statement denying that they were not consulted. The labour leaders have been part of this administration.They have always been involved in anything that the state government is doing including the recent agric programme in which the state government is giving the sum of N250, 000 each to over 8,000 workers participating in the programme. And let me make it clear that salaries of workers are not deducted as they claimed. Salaries of workers for this month have not been paid to verify the claim of the labour leaders.So, we are calling on the labour leaders to continue to support this administration. Workers on their part should avoid being incited against the government by the labour leaders because the new pension law is in their interest, she said.It would be recalled that the Labour leaders in the state including Comrade Ikechukwu Nwafor of NLC , Comrade Michael Nwonu of TUC and Comrade Patrick Ekwe of JPSNC had accused the state government of secretly deducting salaries of workers before sending the bill for the contributory pension law to the state House of Assembly which according to them should be the last process for the passage of the law.They also accused the government of not following due process for the passage of the new pension law.
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