Deduction in workers’ wages causes strike

After two weeks of warning, civil servants in Nasarawa State last week embarked on a warning strike, as controversy trails a five per cent deduction in their monthly salaries by the state government.

The state’s Board of Internal Revenue, following a directive by state governor, Aliyu Akwe Doma, started to implement the five per cent tax deduction policy from the salaries of civil servants from last month.

The deduction affects both state and federal employees as well as private enterprises.

The union of civil servants in the state had tried to negotiate with the government for a salary increment before the deduction starts, but the government maintained its stand, hence the planned strike.

The union, which called the deduction satanic, subsequently sent a circular asking all the state workers to embark on the strike.

Some union leaders in the state claim that money from the deductions will be used to execute some of the state’s building projects in Abuja. Others, only tongue in cheek, said the fund was for Mr Doma’s re-lection campaign which is already heating up.

A circular released by the state’s chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, directing the civil servants in the state to embark on a warning strike stated: “ We are sad to inform the workers of the state that the government appears bent on implementing this tax deduction. In view of this, you are to commence on an indefinite strike from Monday if there is no counter information.” The state government, in its reaction to the strike action, however blamed the leadership of the unions for misinterpreting the nature of the deductions.

“It important to point out that, in compliance with the provisions of the Pay-As-You-Earn regulations and the guidelines thereto which came into effect in 2004, all Federal civil servants as well as private sector employers in the state have already commenced compliance and indeed remitted their PAYE deductions to the Nasarawa State Board of Internal Revenue without complaint,” a statement from the office of the state governor said.

Heavy burden

Some of the civil servants said they have not been properly educated by the state government before the deductions started. Titus Adams, who works with the Nasarawa State Polytechnic said the tax burden is too much for salary earners in the state.

“The tax rate has increased to about 600%, we do not know how they got to that,” he said. “They brought a chart for us to see; even our non-taxable allowances are now being taxed. My tax used to be about N2,400, but it is now N18,000. They said it is a new tax policy, that they want to use it for infrastructure and that the directive is from the federal government. We have tried to dialogue with them for a reduction, but they said no. Even the federal civil servants in the state have been affected by the policy. The monies were deducted for the state projects in Abuja.”

Another civil servant, who is a member of the Radio, Theatre and Television Workers Union (RATTAWU), told NEXT under condition of anonymity that the deduction were effected on his January salary. “We refused to collect the salary, because the deduction was done without consultations,” he said. “We are saying they should increase the wages and then they can deduct. They also said the money is to be used to boost the revenue of the state, but we also heard that the five per cent is to be used to support the campaign of the State governor, for re-election into office in 2011.”