The National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) announced that it has suspended its strike after an emergency meeting it held with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige.
On Wednesday, Nigerians groaned under darkness as most businesses that are dependent on electricity suffered all manners of loses as a result of the power outages witnessed in parts of the country as workers in the power sector commenced an indefinite strike over pending labour issues with the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). The workers under the auspice of the NUEE on Wednesday, picketed the Headquarters of TCN, Abuja, resulting in black out in parts of the country.
Mr Joe Ajaero, the General Secretary of NUEE had in a circular titled: “Call for Action”, to Senior Assistant General Secretaries and Zonal Organising Secretaries dated August 15, 2022; said: “You are hereby enjoined to mobilise immediately for serious picketing of TCN Headquarters and Stations nationwide over the directive by the TCN Board that all Principal Managers, PMs, in acting capacity going to Assistant General Managers, AGM, must appear for a promotion interview. This directive is in contravention of our Conditions of Service and Career Progression Paths, and unilaterally done without the relevant Stakeholders.”
The workers were also protesting what they described as “stigmatization of staff from the office of the Head of Service (HoS), of the federation from working in other areas in the power sector, and the refusal of the market operator to fund the payment of entitlement of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (Ex-PHCN) staff as agreed in December 2019 agreement after an industrial action by the Union.”
However, the electricity workers, Wednesday evening suspended the strike following the minister’s intervention.
Head, Press and Public Relations at the labour ministry in another statement also said, “The Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has apprehended the strike embarked upon by the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) following an emergency meeting between the union, government, and other stakeholders, at the instance of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige.
“Dr Ngige set up a tripartite committee to look into the grievances of electricity workers towards addressing them.”
The statement added that the union’s secretary general, Joe Ajaero, has “assured the minister that all necessary steps would be taken to restore the supply of electricity to the country immediately.”
