Unpaid workers’ salaries unsettle Delta

Abacklog of unpaid workers’ salaries in Delta is at present threatening the cordial relationship that had existed between the state government and the workers.
Expectedly, unpaid workers in the state have begun to gnash their teeth in utter despair and doubts in the sincerity of the state government, but the State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa through his Special Adviser on Labour and Industrial Relations, Comrade Mike Okeme on Monday doused the uncertainty among the workers, disclosing that effort to pay all its monthly obligations to the workers up to date were on going.

Speaking further on a telephone to our reporter, Comrade Okeme said that the June pay of the echelon of the sector would be paid off this week, while the July pay of all categories of workers on the government’s pay roll would be soon after.

His words, “The fact is that the government will pay those it is owing(for June) and will be able to pay the salary for this month (July) to all class of workers soon after that…it is no longer going to be staggered. Government will pay all those it owes (June pay) this week and before Friday, the pay for the month of July will be ready to be paid. Governor Okowa does not believe in strangulating workers by owing them”.

Okeme said that the hands of the Okowa administration had been strengthened by the enhanced disbarment from the Federation Account (FA), which warehouses all of the federally – collectible revenues for disbursement to the three tiers of government – federal, states and local.

Last week, the Federal Government, the 36 state governments, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and all 774 local governments in the country shared approximately N559billion, the highest such figure in recent times, based on the prevailing Revenue Allocation Formula (RAF).

He explained that the state government, unavoidably, resorted to the staggered mode of payment of salaries following the massive decline in the administration’s receipts from the FA, but stressed that the government, in the face of the enhanced receipt from the FA, would not apply that strategy mode to the payment of the July salaries of workers.

While lauding the workers, especially the flower of the public sector for their patience over the delay in the payment of their salaries, he also sought their understanding, which, he said, remained labour-friendly and committed to safeguarding the interest of its workers, resorted to the unavoidable strategy of staggering payments.

But the determination of the administration to clear the backlog of its obligations to its worker was not the only good news that Okeme broke yesterday morning, as he said that the government was also striving to firm up efforts to begin the remittances owed worker’s cooperative societies in the state.

Again, his words, “the government will also try to pay the cooperative… government will do everything humanly possible to ensure that deductions from workers’ salaries into cooperative ventures are remitted…”