Local Government workers in Plateau State on Tuesday continued their protests over the new minimum wage as they barricaded the state secretariat.
It was learnt that the Tuesday’s protest was in continuation of the earlier one which they started about three weeks ago over the non-implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage by the state government .
It was further gathered that attempts by some civil servants to gain entrance to their offices at the state secretariat were resisted by the LG workers who chased them away
Some policemen and an armoured tank from the state security outfit, Operation Rainbow, were reportedly deployed in the area.
When our correspondent visited the secretariat around 3.30 pm, the protesting workers were seen singing and dancing, while they accused the governor of maltreatment and starvation
The Vice Chairman of the National Union of Local Government Employees, Bokkos Local Government Area, Mr Barnabas Phillip, said the LG aggrieved workers were determined not to allow any activity at the state secretariat.
Philip said, “For the past three weeks, we have been protesting and calling on the governor to pay us our N30,000 minimum wage to no avail.
“We will not stop the protest because Governor Simon Lalong assured us in 2015 that he would not allow two salary structures for civil servants in the state. But what we are experiencing now is a departure from that promise.
“The governor has decided to implement the N30,000 minimum wage for the state civil servants only, while the local government workers are left out.” – Punch.
