Staff of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, AEPB, Tuesday, down tools to protest the non-implementation of the
Consolidated Health Salary Structure, CONHESS, two years after its implementation in the FCTA.
The aggrieved workers, who barricaded entrance into the AEPB headquarters at Area 10, vowed never to return to work until their needs are met.
An Assistant Director at the agency, Barr. Udeme Umanah, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues said it was regrettable that staff of the board are yet to be captured under the CONHESS structure despite sensitive nature of their jobs.
Umanah who spoke with journalists, explained that the National Salary and Income Wages Commission had recommended the CONHESS salary structures to AEPB due to their work functions.
According to him, “AEPB is an autonomous agency established under AEPB Acts of 1997. The Federal Capital Territory Administration wants AEPB to be a department under the administration. The Act provided that the Board employs staff and others can be by secondment. The Director of AEPB is determined by the FCT Minister.
“Despite the work functions that are very sensitive and hazardous, the National Salary and Income Wages Commission recommend CONHESS salary structures to AEPB. AEPB staff are grouped into two, the environment.
“The presidential committee approved the same salary structures as the National Salary and Income Wages Commission which was forwarded to FCTA in 2021. They commence the CONHESS salary structures in from January 2020. The Health, Agric, Social Development Secretariat, and FCT-IRS earn different salary structures they have had any trouble.
“We gave the administration 21 days notice to implement the salary structures for AEPB, we gave them seven days and finally, we gave them three days notice. It was after the expiration of the three days notice that the Minister called us, and agreed to implement the salary structures and pleaded that we should not go on strike and that we should give them two weeks to sort it out.
“By last Friday, our two weeks noticed expires and by Monday, we embarked in an indefinite strike and we are not ready to go back until they implement our salary structures.”
Some of the staff who spoke to our correspondents said the new salary structure had been approved since 2019 but was yet to be implemented by the management.
They added that the protest was to register their displeasure over the situation and that they will also embark on a three day warning strike to draw the attention of the FCT Minister.
They added that if the new salary structure was not implemented after the strike, the workers will take more actions to press home their demands.