Alhaji Salami Momoh Jimoh, the National Vice-President, Steel and Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria (SEWUN), spoke with our Correspondent, Mohammed Bashir, in Lokoja on the lingering crises rocking the Ajaokuta Steel Company. He also spoke for the Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ISSSAN)
The management has alleged the workers locked up both the chairman and the coordinator of administration for 12 hours on January 19 this year. What prompted this?
You know a goat cannot bite but when it is pushed to the wall it can turn back and bite. What has happened is that the management has been the shortchanging of the workers since July 2010 till date. Ajaoukuta Steel Company Limited and the National Iron Ore Mining company Itakpe, happen to be part of the steel parastatals under the ministry of mine and steel development. As at 2010, a Consolidated Research and Allied Institution Salary Structure CONRAISS was approved for the steel parastatal under the ministry. And the CONRAISS circular came on December 14, 2010 showing the effective date of implementation on July 1, 2010.
It was this year (2010) that the sister- companies that were on the same salary structure started enjoying this CONRAISS, while our own management was collecting the money quietly without our knowledge since July 2010. Not until January 2011 that they made another proposal. It was at this time some of our union colleagues in the ministry hinted us of the new salary structure and furnished us with documents including the warrant.
We confronted the management that what they have been collecting on-behalf of the Ajaokuta workers is not what they are paying us. They requested for the evidence of our claim, we gave them including the warrant, since then, they began to dodge us, staying away from office.
When the workers got the information of the ongoing fraud in the management, and also lost confidence in us because the management had rendered us useless before them, the aggrieved workers on their own matched straight on the administrative building without our knowledge. Of course they believed we could no longer help them and therefore decided to take their destiny into their hands.
Although, they could not go up the stairs to meet the management, they went to protest the non-payment of the new salary structure. It was at that point the management invited the union for a meeting to resolve the lingering crises. The management during the meeting opened up in the presence of all the security agents in the territory, that the net pay that comes to the management monthly on-behalf of the workers was N312 million, while only N206m is been paid to us as monthly salary since January last year. But the management could not tell us what has happened to the monthly balance of over N100 million since January last year.
Based on this revelation the workers in the presence of the security agents, asked the management to sign an agreement on a new mode of payment, and the management complied and wrote in the agreement they were going to pay January salary on the new CONRAISS structure, while the February salary will be paid along with six months arrears on same CONRAISS structure after signing the agreement.
But after the cheques issued for the new salary structure were sent to the banks for payment, the IMC chair ran to Abuja and issued a counter directive to all the banks not to pay.
As I am talking to you now, I have just received an alert that the chairman has directed that the December 2011 Salary schedule be used in paying the January/February salary for the year, still on the old structure.
The management says the new salary scheme that the workers are demanding has not been approved by the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission.
What’s your comment?
I was part of the first delegation to the National Salaries Income and Wages Commission in Abuja to get approval for the new salary structure. The officer we met there, opened up and asked the management if the new salary structure has been coming in the budget, the management agreed and said ‘yes’, then the officer said there is no need of seeking any approval that the management should go ahead and pay the new salary structure since it is coming with the budget.
Since then the management has been collaborating with the salary and wage commission not to release the approval of the new salary structure and instead approved salary structure lower than our old salary.
We are currently complaining about it, despite the fact that the supervising ministry had directed that since there is provision for the CONRAISS in the budget, the management should go ahead and pay.
You workers have accused the management of fraud and mismanagement. Can you substantiate these allegations?
If the management cannot account for the balance of our monthly salary of over N100 million since January 2011 till date, what do you call that? If they are not fraudsters let them prove it because we have documentary evidences to back what we are saying.
Is it true that the tenure of the Interim Management Committee was for only six months? Do you have evidence to back up this claim?
The word interim, means temporary, and what that implies is that the management, since they are here as interim, they should have stayed for either three or six months, but they are already spending their fourth years as interim. You don’t need any evidence on that. It is a clear case issue. We have the evidence of when they assumed as interim committee.
The management claims to have cleared salary arrears and ensure regular payment of salary till date. Is it true?
I think the management is just telling you that to douse the tension they are currently undergoing, but for the record, the management is not only lying to you but also deceiving itself.
As far as we are concerned, we have not received payment for January and February this year. Remember I told you that the management signed an agreement that it would pay our January and February on CONRAISS and clear all the arrears, but till now nothing is done.
TheNation