TARABA WORKERS SHUT DOWN SECRETARIAT OVER UNPAID SALARIES.

Workers in the employment of Taraba State Government under the auspices of the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council on Thursday shut down the state secretariat in Jalingo to protest against the non-payment of their salaries.

Addressing the workers, the state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Peter Gambo, said the state government had continued to be insensitive to the plight of the workers.

Gambo said the workers were protesting against other irregularities in the payment of their salaries and pensions of retirees in the state.

He said local governments’ workers and teachers had not been paid for eight months, pointing out that they had been subjected to untold hardship.

The chairman listed such irregularities as illegal deductions from salaries and subjection of workers to meaningless screenings and futile verifications by the government.

Gambo also alleged that the union dues were deducted indiscriminately without being remitted to the respective accounts of the unions and that government had given no explanations for this.

“Government has shown that the welfare of workers in the state is not its priority.

“Workers have been subjected to inhuman treatment in the name of screening and verifications that have not yielded any fruits apart from subjecting them to extreme hardships.

“The consultant has proven to be very incompetent in handling payment of salaries while the bank handling payment has clearly shown that it is confused. All these must stop now,” he said.