‘Government must pay salaries before May 29’

The Nigeria Labour Congress, on Tuesday, insisted that state governors must pay outstanding salaries before the May 29 handover date.

Factional Deputy President of the NLC, Mr. Peters Adeyemi, said this at the ninth National Delegates Conference of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria in Abuja. Continue..

Adeyemi said workers had commenced the campaign to prevail on the outgoing governors to pay outstanding salaries before they leave on May 29.

Also at the event, MHWUN called on the Federal Government to ensure better funding of the primary health care system in the country.

The National Administrative Council of the NLC had on March 19, 2015 set up a committee saddled with the responsibility of compelling state governments to pay over eight months salary arrears owed workers.

Last week, the Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, himself a former President of the NLC, had urged labour to unite and compel state governors owing workers’ salaries to pay before the May 29 handover date.

The congress had on December 31, 2014, said 11 states owed workers their salaries.

On Tuesday, Adeyemi said that workers should not be made to bear the brunt of the mismanagement of the economy as they were not part of those who looted the treatury.

He said, “Nigerian workers are expecting the NLC to rise up to issues affecting workers. I want to use this opportunity to urge the conference to come up with a position to compel state governors who owe workers’ salaries to pay.

“The payment of salaries to workers is not a favour; it is a constitutional right of the worker to be paid his salary.

“All the state governments that are not paying salaries will not enjoy our support. The fight to get them pay the salaries must start and it has to be now. They should pay what they owe before they leave.

“The workers did not participate in the mismanagement of the economy so the workers cannot be made to pay for that.

“The governors who said that they don’t have money to pay salaries spent a lot of money, even in hard currency, during the last elections. They must pay the salaries they owe the workers.”