Clerk moves to avert National Assembly workers’ strike

To avert the impending strike by National Assembly workers, the Clerk, Ojo Olatunde, has constituted a nine-man committee to look at the workers’ demands.

This was coming on the heels of a 21-day ultimatum from the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), who threatened to embark on strike if their demands were not met.

Inaugurating the committee, Olatunde assured the workers that the management would continue to prioritise workers’ welfare. Special Adviser to the Clerk on Media and Labour Matters, Austen Adesoro, who issued a statement in Abuja to that effect, indicated that the panel, chaired by the Secretary, Human Resources and Staff Development, Felix Orunwese, was set up by management to attend to welfare issues raised by staff.

The statement quoted the Clerk as saying that the National Assembly’s management would do all within its powers to ensure that staff got their due on a proactive basis. He stressed the need for dialogue as a panacea to the situation on the ground, instead of unnecessary agitations.

Olatunde said the management under his leadership, upon assumption of duty, had paid the staff leave bonus, legislative duty allowance (LDA) and end-of-year bonus.

The management, he added, has concluded plans to provide staff buses to ease transportation, especially in the face of the challenges posed by the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).

His words: “You will agree with me that this historic meeting is actually called to demonstrate our commitment and passionate desire to make your Condition of Service a continuous priority.

“I want to say it loud and clear that we shall never rest on our desire to make all staff of the National Assembly very important always, because of the high value management places on you. This proactive dimension we have tailored informed the inauguration of the Committee on the Implementation of the Condition of Service, which shall continuously be used within the National Assembly under our watch.”

Chairman of PASAN, National Assembly Chapter, Sunday Sabiyi, in his remarks, said the pending staff welfare issues that needed to be urgently addressed include 22 months minimum wage arrears.

Sabiyi noted that other staff demands that needed urgent implementation were rent subsidy at 40 per cent of consolidated annual salary, hazard allowance at five per cent of consolidated monthly salary, gratuity for every retiring staff and pending promotion arrears.