Some former staff of the Leadership Newspaper has threatened to drag the company before the industrial court following its refusal to pay them years of outstanding salaries and other emoluments.
A statement by Jamil Gulma, on behalf of the aggrieved ex-workers of the company said some of the unpaid staff had spent up to seven years working for the company without receiving any form of remuneration.
This, it said had informed their decision to resign.
“Some of them have withdrawn their children from school, while others find it difficult to even put food on the table for their respective families but despite all pleas, leadership has remained blind to the yearnings of the hapless victims,” he said.
He noted that in their move to ensure the amicable resolution of the issue, the affected staff employed the service of an Abuja-based solicitor to plead for the payment of the backlog of salaries and emoluments in vain since 2017.
“Our solicitor in the last seven years has been pleading with the company, but in its usual haughty mannerism, the company blatantly shunned all pleas to pay off the former staff. At different times in the past, the company has made promises to effect payment of our seven years backlog of salaries only to fulfill them in the breach.
“Over the years, leadership earned notoriety in double standards. While it frowns at the corruption perpetrated by others, it conveniently ignored the odious corruption it perpetrates.
“It is the height of irresponsibility for an organization with a saintly public deportment to be rooted in gargantuan corruption and misdemeanor like the one taking place in leadership to the extent one will be forgiven for saying corruption and perversion are the new set of leadership intrinsic values.
“We are tired of this deceit and as such we resorted to taking the company to industrial court to reclaim our unpaid entitlements.
“It is trite that an organization that touts the promotion of the rule of law as one of its core credos will trample on the very cause it is supposed to be championing.
“Leadership cannot claim to be championing the cause of the downtrodden when the stench of lawlessness oozes from its underbelly.
“Despite pleas from some of the former staff of severe difficulties and depressions as a result of the inclement economic conditions, leadership has continued to pay lip service to their legitimate demands to be given their duly earned emoluments.
“We never had it in mind to take the company to conventional court or even to the court of public opinion, but the company’s blatant disregard for our rights made it imperative to take action. Leadership will surely have its day in court. History is always on the side of the repressed,” he said.
