National Assembly workers under the aegis of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), have suspended its week-long strike action due to the non-payment of outstanding National Minimum Wage and implementation of Revised Conditions of Service (2018).
The workers bowed to pressure from the Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan to sheath their swords.
Addressing the workers during the Congress on Tuesday, the National President of PASAN, Muhammed Usman, alleged that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, kept their letters from the Salary and Wages Commission.
He also said that the President of the Senate, after a meeting with the officials of PASAN, ordered the withdrawal of their court and urged them to pay all allowances including arrears.
The Chairman of PASAN National Assembly, Insha Sunday Sabiyi said that the decision to call off the strike was based on the outcome of the meeting held at the instance of the President of the Senate.
This was confirmed by a resolution signed by Secretary, Human Resources & Staff Development, Abiodun Oladoyin, on behalf of National Assembly Management; and other icons of the PASAN.
According to the report from the meeting, Senator Lawan said; “the National Assembly is the heart of Democracy in Nigeria and remains central to the Democratic Governance. Therefore, any attempt to disrupt its functions could be viewed as an attempt to cause embarrassment to the entire Nation in the eyes of the whole world.”
The National Assembly Commission Chairman, Ahmed Amshi, affirmed that the two major issues in contention by PASAN were arrears of minimum wage and the full implementation of the Revised Conditions of Service.
He said initially, there was no approval from the Salaries, Income and Wages Commission for the payment of allowances contained in the Conditions of Service.
Series of letters
He said the management started the payment of some of the allowances but had to stop due to series of letters of advise from the Salaries and Wages Commission indicating that any payment of such allowances,without approval from the Presidential steering committee was an infraction to extant rules and regulations.
He said the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission did its part by transmitting the request of NASS to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
However PASAN alleged that it appeared that the Management of NASS was not concerned about the welfare of the Staff of the Service as the issue had lingered for too long, leading to the Industrial Action.
The Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, sympathised with the members of PASAN for the long delay in the full implementation of the Revised Conditions of Service.
He directed that the ongoing payment of the arrears of the minimum wage should continue without any default in the payment.
“The payment of the allowances that started but stopped must be continued with effect from the receipt of June 2022 fund allocation to NASS. These allowances are: Hazard Allowance and Leave Allowance. Management of NASS and PASAN to agree on modalities of payment of backlog of Hazard Allowance in a manner that the routine operations of NASS are not hampered,” he stated.
PASAN leadership assured the Senate that this would be communicated to PASAN Congress and would be complied with, in the spirit of Labour Relations.
Lateefah Ibrahim
