By Vincent Ujumadu, Awka
THE on-going strike by the organized labour in Anambra State has taken another dimension with the state government and labour leaders trading allegations that had helped to deepen the animosity between government and workers. On Monday, Gov Peter Obi assembled who is who in Anambra at the famous Women Development Centre , Awka and made a frightening speech that sent jitters down the spine of many workers.

At the meeting, the governor announced that government would apply strictly the no work, no pay policy because, according to him, there was no justification for the strike since his administration was already implementing the new minimum wage of N18000 with effect from August this year. He also said that government had resolved that all workers employed from 2003 would be relieved of their employment, including the 3000 workers recently employed to beef up the teaching staff in the schools and 1000 employed by State Universal Basic Education Board, ASUBEB for the ICT in the schools that benefited from the state government’s computer distribution network. He also placed embargo on the planned employment of 1000 civil servants which process had already begun, while there should be immediate review of the employment of all non-indigenes in the civil service of the state.

In addition, he stated that henceforth, promotions, including those for the directors and permanent secretaries, shall be strictly by examinations, while the liquidation process shall be allowed to take full course on workers’ deductions, just as payment of premium on life assurances by government for workers would be suspended. Also, there would be immediate commencement of detailed biometric audit of workers from October this year for all categories of workers, while there shall be no more automatic deduction of dues from workers’ salaries for organizations and associations.

Obi further announced that government would inaugurate a board for the reform of the Civil Service and take other steps deemed necessary in due course to strengthen and modify the civil service in the state. He said the on-going strike by Medical Doctors which had lasted for over seven months had remained a source of concern to government which had agreed to pay 50% of their demand and warned that the striking doctors would be deemed to have withdrawn from the civil service if they failed to return to their duty posts by next month..

According to the governor, the on-going labour crisis was externally manipulated by those who did not wish the state well, as Anambra was one of the few states that commenced the implementation of new minimum wage in August in line with Minimum Wage Act.

Reeling out statistics on the state’s expenditure profile, he explained that the implementation of the new minimum wage had increased the state’s wage bill by over N500 million which, he said translated to over 70 percent spending of the state’s revenue on recurrent expenditure which, according to him, is above the stipulated 30 percent and 70 percent ratio for recurrent and capital expenditure respectively. Such expenditure, he noted, was a threat to the future of the state. While admitting that the state received N7 billion from the Federation Account allocation, he said it was accumulation of arrears owed the states, adding that the state’s monthly allocation remained about N3 billion.

He explained that in line with the agreement reached between labour and the Governors’ Forum, Anambra State government commenced the implementation of the law in August in keeping with the promise, but expressed shock that after collecting the August salary that contained the new wage and despite agreement between the government and the state wing of the Nigeria Labour Congress in their last meeting brokered by the state Elders Council that no strike would be embarked upon while a peaceful solution was sought for any outstanding issue, the organized labour went ahead to declare and embark on an indefinite strike action.

Obi’s anger was perhaps a reaction to an allegation that apart from declaring indefinite strike without prior notice and disobeying an agreement reached with the Elders’ Council, labour in the state allegedly wrote to international donor agencies that had been collaborating with the state government to stop such collaboration. The action, many people observed, was considered as going too far in the name of labour movement because the donor agencies had been instrumental to Anambra State being reckoned with in terms of good governance since the present administration came into being.

Implementation

of minimum wage

Though Obi was among the first governors in the country who promised to implement the new minimum wage, the problem was the form it was to take. In fact, soon after the minimum wage act was signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan, negotiations between labour and Anambra State government began. Following a breakdown in the negotiations, labour leaders, on August 8, 2011, called out workers on a one –week warning strike when it felt that government was not sincere in its promise to implement it as it alleged that government was foot dragging on the issue.

Hurriedly, the governor, who from the day the new wage was approved, spoke of his administration’s preparedness to implement it according to law. He invited leaders of thought in the state to intervene and they did which led to some kind of truce. While commending the labour unions for their understanding, he said there was no need for the warning -strike in the first place, promising not to renege on his earlier promise to pay. However, what apparently worried the workers was the unofficial implementation chart circulating in the state which showed that only junior workers would benefit from the largesse.

But in a swift reaction, the state government denied the said chart, insisting that it did not emanate from the right quarters.

In a broadcast he made after the one week warning strike, Obi said, “From the onset, I had maintained that we had no compelling reason to take such an action either in the past, today or in the future. I say this with the greatest sense of responsibility, bearing in mind that we have from inception of this government, demonstrated commitment to the welfare of workers as evident from our resolve to constantly upgrade their conditions of service. It is on record that we were among the first batch of states in the country that expressed readiness to obey the minimum wage act that stipulates N18000 as the minimum wage.”

In fact, the announcement by the state government that the new minimum wage would be reflected in the workers’ August salaries was a pleasant surprise because it came at a time the labour unions were said to be planning another strike action over the issue. But after receiving their August pay, labour leaders assembled the workers and asked them to go home, telling them that the N10000 added to their salaries by government was a bonus, as they argued that it was not in tandem with the agreed chart for the implementation of the minimum wage act.

State chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Mr. Patrick Obianyo, said that there was no basis for partial implementation of the wage, alleging that the state government had collected about N30 billion from the Federation Account allocation this year, while the wage bill was only about N6 billion. In addition, he said, local government allocation for the 21 local government areas amounted to about N22 billion, adding that there was no justifiable reason for the state not to implement the minimum wage act fully.

When the workers began the latest strike, the State commissioner for information, Chief Maja Umeh accused the leadership of labour of merely playing politics with the minimum wage, warning that government would not take kindly to anybody stopping any worker from carrying out his or her legitimate duties. It was gathered that top officials of government had been directed to provide attendance registers in all the offices for workers to sign so as to know those who were absenting themselves from duty. Already, the workers appear divided on the strike as some of them have expressed their preparedness to continue with their duties.

For instance, judiciary workers in the state have backed out of the on -going strike, saying they did so because they have reached an agreement with the state government over the special salary scale approved for their members throughout the country. Recall that the judiciary workers were on strike for six months and resumed work shortly before the issue of the N18000 minimum wage began. A statement from the judiciary workers’ union said that embarking on another strike at this time would jeopardize their agreement with government and urged all their members to continue their work. In line with statement from the union, the entire workers of judiciary have been carrying out their duties and all the courts and election petition tribunals are sitting. This is against threats by the state NLC that they must join the strike because they are part of the movement. But a judiciary staff who spoke on the issue accused labour of insincerity, adding that NLC remained indifferent during the six months judiciary workers were on strike and wondered why they should be forced to join this time when they have got what they went on strike for.

Also, the labour leaders are having it rough with some junior civil servants who insisted on not participating in the strike because their interests were adequately protected by the implementation chart released by the state government. As one of them put it, “if the strike was for the implementation of N18000 minimum wage, there is no reason for us to continue staying at home because our interest has been protected by government.”