The staff of the Cross River Basin Development Authority (CRBDA), have embarked on a peaceful protest to demand the payment of three years’ salary arrears and an end to illegal deductions from their salaries as union dues.
The staff held an emergency congress at the premises of the Basin Authority at 8 Miles in Calàbar to deliberate on the deductions, outstanding payment of 50% promotion arrears for 2017, 2018 and 2020, and encroachment of the Authority’s land and thereafter embarked on the peaceful protest.
The staff led by Comrade Joseph Etim, the branch Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Agriculture and Allied Employees, NUAAE, moved around the premises of the Authority and adjoining streets with placards to highlight their plight and demand for the immediate payment of their outstanding promotion arrears and a stop to double deductions from their salaries for union dues payment.
“Outstanding promotion arrears for 2017, 2018 and 2020 have since been made to the staff of other Basin Authorities across the country in full yet in our case only 50% is what we got and several appeals to the management of Cross River Basin Authority to offset our payment has fallen on deaf ears,” Comrade Etim told newsmen.
He said a Committee was set up by the management of CRBDA some years back to look into the issue but the report the workers got was that payment was done by IPPIS in Abuja when a delegation was sent to Abuja the workers were told in the IPPIS office that they have no hand in it but the management of their Authority should pay them.
The staff called on the Minister of Agriculture to intervene by directing the CRBDA management to release their promotion arrears to them as done by the management of other Basin Authorities across the country.
“We appeal to the Minister of Agriculture to save us from this situation by directing the management. of CRBDA to release the money to us which will be very useful in addressing some needs in these trying times”. Etim stated.
The staff also complained about what they call “illegal deductions”. their salaries as dues for two different unions
“We belong to Nigeria Union of Agriculture and Allied Employees only but our salaries are being deducted to pay dues for the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria which we do not belong. The salary of cleaners to other staff of the Authority are deducted monthly making it double payment for dues which is illegal”.
Comrade Etim said this is not the case in other Basin Authorities and appealed to the Minister of Agriculture to save the workers in CRBDA from their plight.
“We have met several times with the Managing Director of the CRBDA, Engineer Bassey Nkposong to stop the deductions but this has not yielded results. The Minister should please help us”.
The protesting workers also appealed to the Minister to call on the management to stop the illegal sale of land within the CRBDA premises to land developers for building and other construction activities.
“The land within CRBDA belongs to the federal government and nobody has the right to sell or lease any portion of it for building and other activities. As we speak with you, a private land developer has been given rights to sell the land to individuals to build houses”.
The workers said when they tried to stop the private land developer from building houses on the land, some workers including the branch Chairman of NUAAE were arrested by the police and detained for several days.
“They warned us not to obstruct their activities because they signed a memorandum of understanding with the management..The Minister should please intervene here too”. The workers appealed.
