Staffs of Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) have embarked on a sit-at-work strike to protest the non-payment of their June salaries.

A reporter, who visited the hospital, documented that the workers came to their working place but barely sat down and did not resume their normal duties.

Some of the staffs were seen signing the attendance register at the hospital but blatantly refused to attend to patients.

Secretary of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU), JUTH chapter, Mr Samfi Kesuwo said that they embarked on the strike on Friday to press home their demand for payment of the June salaries.

“We just come to work and sit down doing nothing. We wonder why only 394 members of staff were paid, out of the 2094 workers.

“Although we are yet to be addressed by management over why we were not paid, rumours have it that it was a system failure from IPPIS.

“But it is amazing to us that the system recognised only Heads of Departments and the Chief Medical Director (CMD)’s loyalists and paid them”.

“The burning question is, how did the system recognised the CMD’s loyalists and the heads of the departments?’’

He said that the workers would continue with the strike until their salaries were paid.

The CMD of JUTH, Prof Edmund Banwat while reacting to the development attributed the non-payment of salaries of most of the workers to “an error from the IPPIS’’.

“An error occurred on the IPPIS platform in the course of the payment”.

“The management of the IPPIS admitted the error and promised to rectify it immediately after the Sallah break, but the break was extended, leaving them with only Friday to carry out the rectification”.

“Unfortunately, we woke up that Friday to find the gates and offices locked by the workers over the non-payment of salaries”.

“IPPIS is in Abuja, but the workers are venting their anger on us here”.

“There is nothing we can do outside pleading with the workers to just wait for IPPIS to rectify the issues,’’ he said.

The Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) is one of the Federal Government of Nigeria Public Financial Management reform initiative. It is aimed at improving the management of human resources and eliminate fraud in the Nigeria Public Service.

http://gistmeinfo..com.ng/2016/07/staffs-of-jos-university-teaching.html