The Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) has continued its picketing of the headquarters of the Investment and Securities Tribunal (IST).
The National President of AUPCTRE, Comrade Benjamin Anthony, who led the protesting staff, decried the non-implementation of agreements reached with the IST management in 2018.
According to the protesters, the IST Chairman, Isaiah Idoko-Akoh, must be suspended and the Ministry of Finance must immediately investigate his activities at the Tribunal.
Speaking on the development, Anthony said the union’s plan was to occupy the office until government yield to their demands and take direct actions.
“We will escalate this protest to the national level if nothing is done. None of the agreements reached in February 2018 has been met by the management of IST. And they include that only an officer from within the IST should head the procurement department; that members of staff should not be denied promotion on account of secondment of staff from other agencies,” he said.
He said in the 2018 document, the union and management agreed that promotion allowances would be paid and promptly, while severance packages be paid as agreed, with effective dates of promotions specified.
He said the recent protest was due to the decision of the Tribunal Chairman to transfer union leaders in the organisation in spite of a subsisting court order.
He said the union had appealed against the ruling of the National Industrial Court against the union and two of its leaders and subsequently filed a motion on notice pending the determination of the appeal.
He said the union had written to the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance on the matter, including the decision of the unions to embark on industrial action.
