The Kaduna state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has kicked against “mass sack” of workers by the state government.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday in Kaduna, the state chairman of the union, Comrade Ayuba Suleiman, said Kaduna was faced with serious security challenges and dwindling businesses, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, stressing that any additional pain on the citizens will “reasonably be repulsive to conscience.
The NLC chairman noted that workers that were sacked in 2016, were yet to be paid their entitlements, wondering how the state government could guarantee the payment of terminal benefits of those being sacked now. He alleged that the sacking of workers in the state public service was done without recourse to the payment of gratuity, pointing out that Section 210 of the 1999 constitution guarantees Pension Rights to workers.
According to the labour leader,“On Tuesday 6 April, 2021, thousands of workers in the Local Government Services of the state were issued with sack letters.”
He said the N5bn monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), which is being celebrated by the state government was achieved through the hard work of the workers in public service “whose only reward regrettably, seems to be mass sack, arbitrary/inconsistencies in salaries which most often fluctuates from month to month, thereby making it difficult for workers to plan in the face of spiraling inflation.”
Suleiman said further that it is “worrisome that the current state leadership sees development squarely from the capitalist point against such crucial indices as human capital development, human right and the rule of law.
“For development to be meaningful it must be balanced and wholesome, in both human capital development and infrastructures growth must deliberately and as of necessity occupy a pride of place.”
He lamented that recently, the state government “in a manner defying of all rationality and logic especially in the face excruciating economic reality,” in a letter signed by the Principal Private Secretary (PPS) to the Governor and sent to the Head of Service “apparently preparatory to another round of mass sack in the public service of Kaduna state.”
He said the NLC in the state was against mass sack of workers adding that, “any sack of workers whose appointments are statutorily protected must be based on strict compliance with the disciplinary procedure as provided in the public service rules.”
“The Government of Kaduna State must take into effect the cost implication of the mass
sack on the society and the implication it will bear on families and already compromised security situation in our beloved state.
“If the workers that were sacked in 2016 are yet to be paid their entitlements, how can the KDSG guarantee the payment of terminal benefits of those being sacked now?” He asked.
The union called on the state government “to reverse this unpopular decision on the
mass sack of workers and seek alternative means of running government without
inflicting additional pains on the public.”
