Union Seeks New Salary Structure For Parastatals

A new salary package might be underway for workers in government and parastatals, if agitation by the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), Rivers State chapter sails through.
The agitation was part of the union’s governing council report at the quadrennial states delegates conference held in Port Harcourt recently.
The Secretary-General of AUPCTRE in Rivers State, Comrade James Kobah, the union scribe decried the delay in implementing the Chief Ernest Shonekan’s Panel Report on Salary Structure for government parastatals.
He maintained that the union, “is set to pursue the separate salary structure for government parastatals. Also to be pursued are basic allowances like hazard for produce inspections services, water board, ministry by power, environmental sanitation and beautification, parks and gardens.”
The AUPCTRE scribe had earlier called for the payment of promotion arrears, increment, overtime, leave and medical allowances of public servants in the state.
It also sought the restructuring of the director cadre to level 17, stating that the benefits of public servants in the federal service should also be extended to their state counterparts.
Lamenting the effect of political instability on the union, Kobah stated that between November and December 2007, the union did not improve much.
Even with the adoption of Public/Private Partnership in the state, he noted that not much had changed in the government-owned parastatals.
The reason for the backwardness in the government-owned parastatals according to Comrade Kobah cannot be divorced from the poor funding and equipping of the parastatals.
In the light of this, the AUPCTRE scribe called on the present administration in Rivers State to fineturn its policies to revitalize moribund government agencies.