By Amin Kef Sesay
Over five hundred workers of the Freetown City Council have expressed their disgust and frustration over the non-payment of their monthly salary for the past three months now.
According to the aggrieved workers, they are presently worried and confused, as they have not been paid their three months take – home pay and the management appears to be keeping a sealed lip or dilly-dallying their payments plan.
They claimed that they are finding it extremely difficult to keep their homes going, as they are not getting any positive response from the management with regards the payment of their three months’ salary arrears. “Our situation is getting worse by the day, and we don’t even know our fate and when we will receive our three months’ salary arrears,” the workers asserted,”
The aggrieved workers say that most of them are the breadwinners of their families and relations, asking how the management of the Freetown City Council expect them to keep homes going, attend to their children’s needs when they are not even sure of getting their salary soon.
They also claimed that the top management officials of the FCC are secretly receiving their salary payments every month, while the junior workers continue to suffer in silence and continue to be deprived of their three months’ salary arrears.
Freetown City Council’s Human Resource Manager, Claudius Campbell, when contacted, debunked the allegation, adding that the management of the Freetown City Council has always been committed and sensitive to the plight of its workers.
He confirmed that his colleague workers have gone without salary for three consecutive months, but that the management of the Freetown City Council should not be considered wicked or insensitive to their plights.
He went on to say that council has been always committed to the progress and welfare of its workers, but that the present economic reality in the country has seriously stagnated council’s income generating avenues country wide. Claudius Campbell further responded that no top management staff has been paid his or her monthly salary and are also going through the same situation.
He concluded that despite the fact that the Coronavirus disease has gradually grounded council’s income generating activities and avenues in the country, his management will continue to appeal to the aggrieved workers to exercise patience and understanding, as they are working round the clock to remedy the situation.
