Labour threatens as Kano govt deducts workers’ salaries
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has told the Kano State Government to stop any further deduction of workers’ salary or face resistance.
DAILY POST reported on Thursday that the Kano State government had deducted money from workers’ salaries and pension payments.
The government, however, said the deduction in the November and December salaries of workers was a temporary measure informed by the drop in federal allocation and dwindling internally generated revenue occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba who stated this in a statement, Thursday, indicated that the deduction was necessary to keep the government going in the face of the prevailing economic recession facing the country.
However, the NLC Chairman in the state Alhaji Kabiru Ado while addressing newsmen at the NLC Secretariat in Kano warned that the workers would resist any plan to further deduct their salaries.
“Attention of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the leadership of Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) has been drawn to a malicious and ill-motivated grapevine publication circulating that the state government is set on reversing the payment of the current minimum wage of N30,600 to the old wage of N18,000.
“Other states such as Borno, Katsina, Lagos, among others, who had issues with COVID-19 and security challenges did not reduce workers’ salary.
“It is now more than before that the state government needs to support workers and their families to scale through the hard times,” he said.
He said the NLC was not ready to accept any further unilateral deductions of the legitimate earnings of any worker or pensioner.
He demanded the state government to immediately refund the deducted amounts for the months of November and December 2020.
“If there is further deduction, severance or foul play on salary, under whatever excuse, the labour congress would be left with no other alternative than to take appropriate industrial action to seek redress,” he warned.
Ado urged the state government to further desist from taking any measures that will damage its established reputation of being prompt in the payment of salaries over the years.
