In a bid to draw the attention of the government to the legitimate demands of its members, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) Academic and Non Academic Staff Unions, in Bauchi State Tertiary institutions has declared a 14-day warning strike effective from 19th July, 2022.
The committee is demanding that all its members with outstanding salaries be paid immediately, just as it called for immediate resumption of promotion implementation and annual increment which were abruptly stopped without any official communication since the inception of the Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir-led PDP government.
This was contained in a statement jointly signed by the Chairman and the Secretary General of JAC, Abdulkadir Mohammed and Ibrahim Bala Abdallah, respectively, and issued to journalists over the weekend.
JAC held strong objection to the untimely imposition of its staff into the proposed Contributory Pension Scheme, a venture it said was being avoided by some Federal institutions due to untold hardships caused on workers.
The committee also called for the implementation of the consequential adjustments, stressing that with the expiration of its earlier ultimatum on the 30th of June, 2022, JAC has been watchful to witness any remarkable positive change, instead, the June 2022 salary came with additional casualties.
Though JAC applauded the attempt of the Government to start looking into the issue of promotions, they expressed hope that other entitlements that go with it, such as the annual increments, are also included.
While reviewing its earlier efforts, the Chairman said; “It is with a deep sense of responsibility, trust and burden bestowed on us by our respective congresses that we convened this meeting.
“The journey so far has been so long. Forces and life challenges have been so unimaginably unpredictable. JAC, in its cause of seeking for justice, has interacted with the office of the Head of Civil Service, the Accountant General, the Commissioner of Education, Council Chairmen, and various stakeholders in the State.
“We appreciate their numerous audiences and genuine attempts to address our perennial and seriously disturbing problems. Equally of note is the laudable effort of His Excellency, Sen. Abdulkadir Bala Mohammed, Executive Governor of Bauchi State, in trying to clean and have a robust payroll payment system for the State.
“JAC has equally written to the Government, letters, containing details of its problems/demands/anomalies and consequences but without tangible result.
“Therefore, on 30th May, 2022, JAC finally wrote a letter to His Excellency Sen. Abdulkadir Bala Mohammed, Executive Governor of Bauchi State, urging him to intervene in our plight. In our letter to His Excellency, we issued a one-month ultimatum for the Government to address these demands.
“Based on these and some other issues mentioned above, JAC held a meeting and resolved to convey this information to the Government for possible positive development.”