Bayelsa to pay workers N30,000 Xmas bonus

Posted by admin Bayelsa, National Politics Thursday, December 23rd, 2010

Bayelsa State government has agreed to labour demand for N30, 000 Christmas bonus for workers in its employ.

The workers under the aegis of the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress had last week rejected the N15, 000 Christmas bonus offered by the state government.

Labour had hinged its rejection of the offer on what it described as the insensitive of the government to the plight of civil servants in the state who in the last two consecutive years forfeited their Christmas bonus as a result of the sharp fall in the state allocation at the height of youth militancy.

Governor Timipre Sylva

A source told Vanguard that the whole noise about the Christmas bonus would have been avoided had the governor not been wrongly advised to pay the workers N15,000.

Labour it was learnt had suggested two options, N30,000 or 13 months salary as their Christmas bonus for 2010 to the government having forfeited their Christmas bonus in the last two years because of the down turn in the state allocation from the federation account.

“This whole noise would have been avoided had the governor not been wrongly advised. When the idea of the Christmas was presented to the governor he was favourably disposed to the N30,000 as being canvassed by labour before it was pruned down to N15,000 leading to its rejection.

“But the governor the governor being a listening person saw reason with labour and shifted ground by agreeing to pay the N30,000,” the source said.

Contacted the chairman of the NLC Comrade Ben Basuo confirmed to Vanguard that the governor had agreed to pay the N30,000 as demanded by labour.wp_posts