PCC commissioner berates Labour Union over disruption of operations

The Chief Commissioner of the Public Complaints Commission (PCC), Abimbola Ayo-Yusuf, has berated the disruption of the commission’s operations by Labour Union leaders, saying such an act was morally reprehensible and beyond the bounds of unionism.

Ayo-Yusuf spoke against the backdrop of the Union’s agitation for migration from the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure (CONPSS) to the Consolidated Legislative Salary Structure (CONLESS).

Ayo-Yusuf explained that the management of the commission and the unions had, before his assumption of duties, appealed to the National Assembly to migrate from CONPSS to CONLESS.

The PCC commissioner noted that the approval was granted by the National Assembly with a caveat that the commission should liaise with the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) for final approval.

He stated that no sooner had the NSIWC granted the approval with effect from October 1, 2022, on his assumption of office, the commission’s labour unions namely: the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Nigerian Civil Service Unions (NCSU), and the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), started agitations for its implementation.

The commissioner disclosed that “no budgetary approval was given to implement the same in the 2022 and 2023 Appropriation Acts.”

He also stated that “several conciliatory meetings were held between the management and the unions which later culminated in the apprehension of the industrial dispute by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.”

Ayo-Yusuf stated further that, “parties committed themselves to ensuring a concerted pursuit and advocacy for an enhanced budgetary allocation under the 2024 Appropriation Act,” noting that, “in spite of the relentless efforts by management and relevant stakeholders, the 2024 approved budget could not fully implement the approved CONLESS for the staffs of the commission.”

He said: “As the management was making efforts to analyse the budget and determine how to allocate funds to the relevant heads/sub-heads, the commission received a letter from the joint unions insisting on “full implementation of the approved 50 per cent CONLESS and its peculiar allowance that is being paid to the staff of the National Assembly service which was different from the approval granted the commission by the NSIWC.

“Management considered it curious and ill-conceived, the fact that the letter was copied to 16 MDAs including some anti-graft agencies in flagrant disregard of the fact that the dispute had been apprehended by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.”

The commissioner said that management made an offer based on approved salary structure by NSIWC, at a meeting with the unions on 24 January, 2024, as follows: “Level 1-6 (100 per cent Consolidated Salary and 100 per cent Peculiar Salary), and Level 7-17 (90 per cent Consolidated Salary and 100 per cent Peculiar Salary).

“On the following day, 24th January, 2024, the executives of the unions along with a mob invaded the salary section as well as the Central Pay Office (CPO) and menacingly chased out all the staffs performing their lawful duties, and brazenly put the offices under lock and key.

“They also instigated some of their members to barricade and lock the entrance and exit gates of the commission, thereby illegally detaining the Honourable Chief Commissioner, some commissioners, secretary to the commission, staff as well as the complainants, respondents and visitors who were on their legitimate assignments/businesses for several hours.”

Ayo-Yusuf added that, “The commission views these acts of violence and desperation as conducts beyond the bounds of unionism more so when the dispute had been apprehended by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment coupled with the signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) wherein parties agreed to maintain status quo ante until the determination/settlement of the dispute.”

He revealed that the chairmen of both the Senate and House Committees overseeing the commission at the National Assembly, had convened a meeting with the management and executives of the unions, sued for peace and assured of the need for adequate funding, saying that, “hands were already on deck at improving it by the relevant authority.

“It can be gleaned from the above that the conducts of the union leaders in locking up law-abiding staff thereby disrupting the operations of the commission are not only morally reprehensible, but criminal and beyond the bounds of unionism,” Ayo-Yusuf said.