· Decries misinformation by NUT leaders
·
Says it’s not true that Primary school teachers are to
be paid by State govts
Delta State Governor, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa has
urged Labour leaders in the country to always uphold the truth in dealing with
industrial issues for the benefit of the people.
 |
| Governor Okowa |
Speaking in Asaba when he received the newly elected
Chairman of the state chapter of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria
(TUC) Comrade Michael Nwaobodo and his Executive members on a
courtesy visit, Governor Okowa said that labour leaders should not mis-inform
their members on the state of affairs to enable the members take informed
decision.
He said there was the need for collaborative partnership
between government and labour unions in the handling of various industrial
issues for peace and development to thrive.
The Governor explained that labour leaders have a role
to play in the governance and development of the state stressing that “for
governance to function properly there must be true partnership between labour
leaders and government, for the state to function effectively and efficiently,
we all have a role to play as our actions and inactions will shape the
directions of governance, as a government we will continue to stay in
partnership with you,”
On the strike action embarked upon by the Nigeria Union
of Teachers in the state, Senator Okowa said there was a lot of misinformation
on the issues.
He charged union leaders to always tell their members
the truth so that they would understand the situation of things stressing that
“if anybody, leading a union or an association, wants to pretend that there is
no change in the economy, such person will definitely be deceiving himself or
will end up deceiving those that we lead and as leaders, we owe it a duty to
tell the truth in the best of ways to those we lead because it is under that
condition will they begin to find ways to adjust their thoughts towards issues
of demand and welfare.”
Senator Okowa who decried the misinformation by the NUT
leaders to their members as a basis for the strike action explained that
primary school teachers were the responsibility of the Local Government
Councils and the state government was liaising with the councils on how best to
handle the payment of salaries to local government workers and the primary
school teachers in the best interest of the state.
“There is this misinformation which continues to go out
there that the primary school teachers are supposed to be paid by the state
government; that is not true, it is a misinformation and when somebody who
leads a union rises up to speak in a way that is not right to his people and by
lying to them, then I get worried because as far back as the nineties, I know
that when the allocation going to local government councils was moved from
10percent to a little over 20.6percent, the primary school teachers moved to
the local government councils and the state allocation which was over 30percent
was then reduced to 20percent; but that did not stop us as a state from
assisting when there is money to offer assistance “, he said.
While emphasizing that the state government has
fulfilled all its obligation to the secondary school teachers, Senator Okowa
said that government has assisted the Local Government Councils over the years
with various sums of money to augment the payment of salaries.
He stressed that government at the Joint Account
Allocation Committee has in conjunction with the various labour leaders
agreed to the payment of 81 percent of salaries to local government staff and
primary school teachers who were being owed nine months and two months
salaries respectively but the NUT Executive wanted to be taken care of to
the detriment of the NULGE members “forgetting that the money is meant to be
used to pay for both local government council workers and teachers’ salaries”
While congratulating Comrade Nwobodo and his executive
members on their election, he reiterated the need for dialogue to resolve the
issues but stressed that there must be collaborative partnership not
intimidation, people must do what was right for the development of the state
and reduce the pains on the masses.
Earlier, the Chairman of TUC, Comrade Michael Nwobodo
commended Governor Okowa for restoring peace to the state and the meaningful
infrastructural development going on in the state despite the current recession
in the country.
He said that TUC believe in dialogue and collaborative
partnership with government in resolving industrial issues.
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