ANGRY workers of Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), on Monday, disrupted work at the Warri head office over unpaid End of Year Bonus and other entitlements.
Although they were dispersed almost immediately, the workers besieged the commission’s secretariat in their hundreds, barricaded the gate and distracted business activities.
A protester, who spoke to journalists, said the “13th month salary is embedded in our conditions of service.
If the same board paid it last year, why should they now insinuate that it does not exist and it is some sort of favour they can refuse at will?
“Beyond the end of year bonus, staff are not being promoted; we don’t know where our pension is going. Retired staff have not been paid till today. They are running helter-skelter; some have died struggling to survive. It’s a crisis situation and the strike will get tougher by the day till the issues are resolved.”
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the intervention agency, Williams Makinde, acknowledged the non-payment of the End of Year Bonus, saying it was not included in the 2016 budget.
He, however, said the grievances and protest were diversionary attempts to intimidate management from addressing the issue of over staffing.
“The said bonus was not imputed in the last budget. We cannot pay what was not in the budget. Management is in the process of promotion appraisal. Promotion is based on performance and appraisal has to be concluded before we can promote.
“The leave and pension entitlements will be paid when funds are available. One thing the protesters are not telling you is that the original staff strength was pegged at a maximum 500, but today we have over N2,500 up to 2,000 of this figure are redundant.
“Management is working with the government to deploy the redundant staff to school to teach. This is the main reason they are protesting. They want to go and teach. We cannot implement all conditions of service. Many don’t have offices where they are working. That cannot continue. We have started fishing them out,” he disclosed.
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