The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has stated that 10 out of the 14 demands put forward by the striking workers in Abuja have been met.
The senior special assistant to the FCT minister on public communications and social media, Lere Olayinka, who stated this in a statement on Monday, said the administration was addressing the remaining four demands through constructive dialogue.
“The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has said that 10 out the 14 demands of the workers that are on strike have been met, adding that other demands are being looked into with a view to addressing them,” the statement read.
Workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration and the Federal Capital Development Authority, on Monday, began an indefinite strike and shut down government activities across Abuja.
The industrial action followed an order by the Joint Union Action Congress (JUAC), directing staff to withdraw their services after an earlier ultimatum over pending demands went unaddressed.
However, Mr Olayinka said top officials had held multiple meetings with union leaders, including sessions on Saturday and Sunday, adding the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had demonstrated willingness to resolve all the issues.
The statement said key interventions, including payment of outstanding five months wage award, payment of outstanding 13 months Hazard Allowance and 22 months Rural Allowance for Health Workers and payment of outstanding arrears in the sum of N286,166,772.46, covering 724 Officers across 24 SDAs, have been made.
The statement added, “On elongation of tenure of retired Directors and Permanent Secretaries in violation of the Public Service Rules, this has been ressolved with Minister assuring the workers of strict compliance with the Public Service Rules.
“JUAC also raised the issue of training and retraining of staff and on this, on this, all SDAs have been directed to forward general and specialized training needs to the permanent Secretary, Common Services for onward submission to the office of the Head of Service for further necessary action.”
The administration said issues regarding tenure elongation for retired directors and permanent secretaries had been resolved, while training and retraining needs were being addressed.
However, it dismissed claims of non-remittance of pension and National Housing Fund contributions, noting that a committee had been set up to monitor all deductions and remittances.
The statement described the strike action as unnecessary, ill-motivated and obviously aimed at achieving purposes other than welfare of the workers, considering all the efforts already made by the Minister in acceding to almost all the demands.
The FCTA called on security agencies to ensure that workers who had opted not to be part of the strike have access to their offices so as to carry out their lawful duties unhindered.
