Anger as FG ‘cuts’ workers’ salaries

Confusion and anger were the lot of some Federal Government employees, yesterday, as they received incomplete salaries for the month of March.

Some of the affected workers, who reported the issue to The Guardian in Bauchi State, were the non-teaching staff of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi.

The Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) of the university had, a fortnight ago, notified the government of its decision to embark on strike over a 2009 agreement.

The Chairman, National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), Bauchi, Muhammad Bashir, expressed dissatisfaction over the sudden deduction of the workers’ take-home, suspecting that the government might be implementing its ‘no-work-no-pay’ policy.

He said: “The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states that the government can only decide to stop our salaries after three months (of industrial action). Even if they are implementing the ‘no-work no-pay’ policy, we need to be given a circular. But we didn’t see anything like that.”