By Philip Yatai
Angry workers on Monday shut the gates of the Federal Capital Territory
Administration (FCTA) as they began an indefinite strike over unresolved welfare
concerns.
The workers, under the Joint Union Action Congress (JUAC), have been appealing
for urgent action to resolve the welfare issues affecting their morale and
productivity.
The president of the union, Mrs Rifkatu Iortyer, told journalists that some of the
concerns included non-remittance of pension and National Housing Fund
deductions and no payments or overheads.
Other issues, she said, were unlawful restriction and centralisation of salary
preparation and payment and non-payment of officers of the Abuja Environment
Protection Board and Social Development Secretariat engaged to enforce laws and
policies.
Also disturbing, according to Iortyer, is the absence of a financial threshold for
Permanent Secretaries (PS) and Heads of SDAs and the elongation of tenure for
some retired directors and PS.
She also listed other concerns, such as the non-payment of outstanding wage
awards, unpaid promotion arrears, poor working conditions, staff intimidation and
lack of training and retraining.
She said that the workers also rejected the mass failure recorded in the 2024
promotion examination and demanded its reversal.
The president said that the issues were not new but have been festering for far too
long, causing undue hardship and frustration to the very individuals who have
dedicated their lives to serving the country.
She said that the gates would remain locked until the issues were addressed.
“Although the management has called us for a meeting, we will not attend until we
are sure some key persons will sit with us at the discussion table,’ she said.
Recall that the union had in June 2025 shut the gates of the secretariat to draw the
attention of the administration with a view to resolving the issues.
