Some pensioners under the umbrella of NPA Pensioners’ Welfare Association embarked on a protest against the irregular increment of their pensions since 2008, on Wednesday.
The President of the association, Charles Benitie, told the media that protest which was staged at the NPA Headquarters in Marina, Lagos, became necessary after several attempts to meet the management over the matter failed.
He was said that the pensioners would continue the protest should the management decline to meet with them over the matter.
The Legend observed over 100 pensioners carrying various placards that read, “Your Pensioners Want to Dialogue with You”; “Let’s Discuss Our Pension”, “Allah Ya Yisa NPA,” among others.
Binitie stated that the pensiomers have been on the matter since 2008 but the management will not meet or discuss with us on the issue.
Hesaid that all the association members belonged to the old pension act, which compelled the management of NPA to care for them till death.
“It is our constitutional right because the constitution stated that whenever there was an increase in the staff salary, it should also reflect in pensions being paid to the retired staff, but this has not been so.
“The salaries of NPA staff have been increased many times between 2005 and 2017 but such increments have not reflected in our pensions.
“The NPA management has been denying us our rights since 2008 and all we are asking for is to dialogue with them but they are refusing to dialogue with us,” he said.
Binitie said that the association had written several letters to the management.
He added that the association also wrote to the Minister of Transportation who told the management to look into the issue but to no avail.
According to him, the association dragged the management before National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, which appealed to NPA to settle the contentious matters, which also failed.
He said the workers were shocked on Wednesday when no senior or low management staff attended to them during the protest.
He said that they had vowed that the protest would continue until the management called them for discussion.
“If the management had gone for an official assignment out of the premises as we were told, a staff member was supposed to have attended to us.
“All we want from the management is to protect us and dialogue with us over our rights and benefits because prices have tripled since we retired. Most of us received as little as N15,000 as pension monthly,” Binitie said.
Our correspondent could not get NPAs management to comment on the protest as the members of the senior management staff were said to be at a meeting outside the headquarters.