Workers in the public service have threatened to go on an indefinite nation-wide strike over poor remuneration.
The warning was contained in a statement signed on Sunday in Abuja by eight unions in the public service, under the umbrella of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC).
The unions are the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), the Nigerian Civil Service Union (NCSU) and the Nigerian Union of Civil Service Secretariat and Stenographic Workers (NUCSSSW).
They also include the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations (AUPC), Civil Service Technical and Recreation Services Employees (CSTRSE) and Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN).
Others are Agricultural and Allied Workers Union of Nigeria (AAWUN), National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) and the National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Product (NUPPPP).
The unions directed all its members to brace for an indefinite strike, as a result of Federal Government’s failure to accede to their request for salary increase after more than two years.
“We resolved to embark on strike after our negotiation with government was deadlocked on Feb. 4. We have all been directed to sensitise our members to the planned strike.
“We have done everything within our power to ensure that the Federal Government addresses the issues in question without success.
“The negotiation was deadlocked. Strike is the next option. The National Public Service Negotiating Council will meet next week to mobilise its members,” it added.
The unions complained about the “serious disparity in the salary of the civil service, especially the huge gap between the salary of the permanent secretary and directors, who are next to them in the civil service cadre”.
The statement noted with regret that the last increment in the salary of certain political, public and judicial public office holders affected only the salary and emolument of permanent secretaries.
It said other categories of workers from the director downward, were left with their previous ‘meagre’ salary.
“The increment has left a wide gap between the salary of permanent secretaries and the directors who are next to them in rank as outlined in the civil service structure.
“While a permanent secretary receives N1.34 million per month, a director next to the permanent secretary receives N145,150 per month, which is against the rules and consolidated structure in the civil service,” it said.
The statement emphasised that the recent salary relativity which affected all the ranks in the civil service, could not be justified and was causing serious disaffection within the service.
The unions said the development had adversely affected their members, and gone against the consolidated salary structure, based on the existing relativity in the public service.
The statement demanded that based on the public/civil service system and the consolidated salary structure, a director should earn 50.86 per cent of a permanent secretary’s salary.
The unions said they would meet this week to take a final decision on when the strike should commence.
(NAN)
