Unpaid Nov, Dec Salaries: NLC Urges Bayelsa Workers To Be Patient With Dickson

The Secretary, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Bayelsa chapter, Mr Dinipre Torukeregha on Sunday urged civil servants who were yet to receive their December salaries to be patient.

He assured workers that the organised labour was liasing with banks operating in the state to ensure that their alternative banking channels including Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) were functional during the yuletide holidays.

He advised civil servants having salary related issues to get in touch with their union representatives.

Torukeregha, who acknowledged that there were reports that some public servants were yet to get their salaries, applauded the Bayelsa government for paying the outstanding November and December salaries of workers before Christmas.

Some civil servants in Bayelsa who are yet to draw their November and December salaries may not enjoy the Christmas holidays in spite of directive by Gov. Seriake Dickson for December salary to be paid before Christmas.

Speaker of Bayelsa House of Assembly had on Friday while recieving the Bayelsa 2018 appropriation bill advised the governor to expedite salary payments in the coming year to ameliorate the effect of the economic downturn on the workforce.

Henry James, who works as a secondary school teacher told NAN on Saturday that he was yet to get November salary let alone December.

“It is unfortunate, I am yet to collect anything for November, in the case of teachers, when the salary gets to the Post Primary Schools Management Board (PPSMB) they will send the funds to I various school accounts from where the teachers accounts are credited,” he said.

Workers in some ministries who got their December salaries late on Friday besieged ATM locations for withdrawals with long queues that depleted the cash in the machines.

However, some banks, which reloaded their ATMs on Sunday witnessed a beehive of activities as residents lined up to make withdrwals for last minute Christmas shopping.

The ongoing fuel scarcity also posed additional challenge to intracity and intercity transportation with motorists compelled to charge higher fares.