Written by Francis Okeke Monday, 10 December 2012 05:00

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has described Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang as a crisis-happy governor who was determined to continue to instigate hostility.

NLC President Comrade Abdulwahed Omar in a press statement yesterday stated that “it is becoming obvious that the governor of Plateau State derives pleasure from crisis, and if not restrained, the embers of the conflagration he is stoking may somehow consume him.”

Local government workers which include primary school teachers and health workers have been on strike since June 1 as a result of the refusal of Jang’s administration to implement the new National Minimum Wage.

NLC has promised to shut down the state today.

Omar said the issues in contention bordered on the implementation of the new National Minimum Wage Act, “which is a law having been passed by the National assembly and signed by President Goodluck Jonathan as constitutionally required.”

He explained that when the state government claimed it lacked the required funds for the full implementation of the new wage, the workers demonstrated rare understanding by agreeing to a temporary implementation of 55% of the new wage, pending when the state’s finances improves.

“As usual of the Jang administration that is well known for unilaterally breaking mutual agreements, the state government did not only refuse to implement what they convinced the workers to accept, they went ahead to refuse to pay arrears of salary to the striking workers.

“For us, we have restrained ourselves from using the full weight of our capacity to declare total industrial action in the state because it is obvious to everyone that the state is already engulfed in several avoidable crisis enough to cause the governor deeper concern for peace. However, Jonah Jang seems determined to deepen the crisis as he has been mobilizing unemployed youths against striking workers in the state,” he said.SOURCE:www.dailytrust.com