Workers of the Abuja Urban Mass
Transport Company on Wednesday protested the non-payment of their salary
arrears for five months, preventing the management from gaining access
to their offices.
The workers under the aegis of the
Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and
Recreational Services Employees – an affiliate of the Nigeria Labour
Congress – carried placards with various inscriptions.
They threatened to continue the protest
for two days and thereafter commence an indefinite strike if the
management of the company fails to yield to pay them immediately.
The Secretary of AUPCTRE, Sikiru Waheed,
told journalists that the company failed to honour agreements it had
with the workers on the payment of the arrears.
He said, “We are here protesting against
the unpaid salaries of workers in AUMTCO. The workers are being owed
five months arrears of salaries. We have had series of meetings with the
management and we have also agreed, written series of agreements which
they have not respected.
“At the initial stage, the Permanent
Secretary of the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory (Tope
Ajakaiye) called us to a meeting and said we should go back home and
address our matter internally.
“We came here, wrote an agreement. In
that agreement, they agreed they will pay us one month out of the three
months within one week as of that time. Today, it is five months; the
one month has not been paid.
“At the same time, when paying salaries,
they deduct pension, they deduct money for cooperative. They deduct
money for union dues, but none of those monies are being remitted to the
appropriate authorities which are even against the laws of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.”
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