Gov. Gabriel Suswam of Benue on Thursday threatened to reduce the state’s workforce by 40 per cent in order to pay the new minimum wage to primary school teachers in the state.
The governor who made the threat while addressing Ukum Local Government indigenes at Zaki-Biam, Benue, regretted that the workers refused to sacrifice 10 per cent of their salaries to be able to pay primary school teachers who had been on strike since October, 2013.
The governor said that since the workers have refused to make the sacrifice, he has no option than to retrench workers who are redundant. “As I speak now, the compilation of those to be sacked is going on in Makurdi,” he said
It will be recalled that the governor appealed to workers during the 2014 May Day celebration to sacrifice 10 per cent of their take home pay to enable him pay teachers who had been protesting the non-payment of their minimum wage.
The workers had rejected the governor’s proposal and walked out on him at the venue of the workers day celebration in Makurdi.
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