The Abia State Chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC ) has expressed sadness. with the method of the ongoing staff verification exercise carried out by the State government stressing that a situation where workers are subjected to inhumane and mockery conditions is not acceptable to labour.
A statement Titled Re: “Ongoing Verification Exercise of Abia Workers” signed by Comrades Nweke Pascal and Emma Alozie as State Chairman and Secretary respectively noted that it was in support of the government’s efforts to fish out ghost workers amongst bonafide workers in the State’s Civil Service, adding however, that it was compelled to address the plight of Abia workers currently undergoing the staff verification exercise.
We are pained by the plight of Abia workers in their effort to be verified. We therefore state as follows:
That a situation where up to six MDAs that have not less than 400 – 700 workers are invited for verification on a day, is unacceptable to Labour.
That a situation where workers are subjected to inhumane conditions is not acceptable to labor.
That 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 labor”
A visit to the International Conference Centre, Umuahia after its State Executive Council Meeting proved the above and the Unconducive condition under which the verification exercise is going on which in turn could jeopardize the health of the workers and the verification officers.
Therefore State Council of Congress requests the State Government as a matter of urgency to”
(1) It is the State Council’s appeal that the contractor handling the verification exercise should not be allowed to dictate the duration of the exercise while Abia workers suffer.
(2) We are saddened by the fact that today most workers are yet to receive their salaries under the excuse of having not been captured as a result of glitches which is not their fault of their own. For fairness and justice’s sake, we call on the Executive Governor, His Excellency, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti, as a matter of urgency to approve the payment of the salaries of those affected, to ameliorate their sufferings. This is from the background that they remain Abia Workers until proven otherwise through the verification exercise.
While we enjoin Abia workers to cooperate with the verification officers, we call on the government to ensure that no legitimate Abia worker is victimized at the end of the exercise” the Statement Concluded.
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