Business
Union Issues 21-Day Ultimatum Over Labour Issues
The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has given the Federal Government 21- day ultimatum to address labour issues in the Federal Ministry of Education to avoid industrial crisis.
The Secretary General of the association, Mr Bashir Lawal, gave the ultimatum in a letter addressed to the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’I, a copy of which was made available to newsmen on Friday in Lagos.
The letter warned that if the government failed to address the issues within 21 days from the date of the receipt of the letter, the union would embark on series of peaceful protests to press its demands.
According to the letter, the contentious issues include stagnation of officers in the ministry, non-payment of promotion arrears, inappropriate placement of officers and posting of workers without paying their allowances.
Other issues are punitive posting of union officials and non-payment of entitled allowances to officers who took part in the mandatory training, organised by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation in 2010.
It said that in spite of the several letters written by the union that both parties should dialogue, the ministry refused to dialogue with it.
The letter said that the ASCSN, made up of officers on grade levels 07 and above in the federal and 36 states’ public services cherished dialogue.
“Dialogue as a veritable tool of industrial relations practice engenders harmony in the workplace.
“That is why the leadership of the union has continued to appeal to the management of the ministry to find a common-ground on the latent labour issues,” it said.
The letter said that since the union had exhausted all avenues for both parties to dialogue and resolve the lingering issues without success, the government must resolve them within 21 days.