The Plateau chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress has cautioned the state government against privatising public institutions.
Its Chairman, Eugene Manji, in a speech at the Workers’ Day celebration on Wednesday in Jos, said that such policy was capable of further widening the gap between the rich and the poor.
Manji said: “The consequences of privatisation are massive; but a major concern for us as workers is that it widens the gap between the rich and the poor. It makes the rich richer, and the poor poorer. Such situations cause tension and upsurge in violence.”
The chairman also spoke on the new minimum wage and expressed confidence that Governor Simon Lalong would fully implement it.
He said: “We are sure that Lalong will implement the new wage. We are only waiting for the release of its template to facilitate further negotiations.”
Manji called for an increase in the payment of pension and gratuity to retired workers in the state to commensurate with the details of the new minimum wage.
In his remarks, Lalong said that his administration would work hard towards improving the Internally Generated Revenue of the state to facilitate the payment of the new minimum wage.
The governor, who was represented by Izam Azi, the Head of Service, urged workers to expose areas of revenue leakages as well as ghost workers in the system, so as to release more funds to meet rising demands.
Lalong said that his administration had paid some funds for the acquisition of land for the civil service housing scheme, and urged workers to discharge their duties diligently.
He appealed to the Joint Union of Plateau State Owned Tertiary Institutions to call off its strike as government was already attending to the demands.
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