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| Governor Ben Ayade |
The Cross River State government said striking workers in its employ will not be paid for the period they were on strike.
This was contained in a 'No Work, No Pay' circular issued yesterday by the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Head of Civil Service Commission, Emmanuel Eke.
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, had on Monday June 29, began an indefinite strike action after attempts to negotiate with the Cross River State government failed.
The labour body accused the state government of failing to address their demands but instead turned a blind eye to all their request by sourcing for a court injection to stop the expression of their constitutional rights.
Comrade Ben Ukpabi, the NLC chairman in Cross River State said: “It is very obvious that Cross River state is not interested in the welfare of her workers. Workers issues presented to government have been ignored. Even some issues that Organised Labour has reached agreement on have all been abandoned and rejected by the government.
But in a circular, Emmanuel Eke said, “The Head of Service has directed all public servants to ignore the strike at the behest of NLC, saying it was illegal and ill-timed.
“Workers are reminded that the labour unions responsible for the affairs of the State Civil/Public Servants Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have disassociated themselves from the industrial action.
“The state government has implemented the new minimum wage and has commenced phased implementation of other agreements reached with labour, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic with the attendant economic challenges,”.
The circular urged workers to adhere strictly to government’s safety directives adding that the no work, no pay policy was still in force and any worker who failed to report for duty would not be paid.
Mr. Eke further said that a team headed by the Head of Service would visit all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and workers who failed to report for work would be sanctioned in line with the provisions of the Public Service Rule.
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