The Chairman of the Joint Public Service Negotiation Council in Imo, Mr Coleman Okwara, has decried the failure of the state government to promote its workers in the past four years.
Okwara, who lamented the situation in a statement, said the government’s inaction did not make room for good worker/government relationship.
He noted that the workers in the state were last promoted in 2008, adding that denying them promotion after working hard for the state amounted to insensitivity.
“Promotion is supposed to be an annual event, but sometimes the government places embargo on it. This does not favour the workers. Workers deserve to be promoted,” he said.
He said the council had approached the state government many times on the matter but nothing had been done.
Okwara also expressed the workers’ displeasure with the government’s inability to fulfil other agreements it reached with them four months ago.
He, however, advised the workers to be calm but said they would not hesitate to embark on industrial action if nothing was done by the end of the month.
In his reaction, the state’s Commissioner for Information, Mr Chinedu Offor, explained that the government had lifted the ban on promotion but that promotion had a process which must be followed.
He recalled that Governor Rochas Okorocha’s administration had never toyed with the welfare of the workers.
He said the governor was able to clear the backlog of two month’s salary arrears owed the workers when he assumed office.
He said the governor paid 10 months backlog of pension to retirees, increased workers’ minimum wage and approved dressing allowance for them.
Offor urged the workers to be patient with the government as it was doing everything to meet their demands.