Relief as electricity workers suspend strike after hours of blackout

The National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has suspended the nationwide strike which resulted in power outage in most parts of the country.

The decision of the workers, who operate under the joint umbrella of NUEE and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEC), followed the intervention of Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige.

Ngige's intervention: Pulse reported that Ngige summoned an emergency meeting on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, to conciliate between the union and the federal government on issues that precipitated the industrial action.

The protesting workers are aggrieved over the government's failure to meet their demands which include non-payment of outstanding arrears owed to former workers of the now-defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria; suspension of conditions of service and career path for workers; and the directive by the TCN board to conduct promotion interviews for acting principal managers who are moving to Assistant General Managers.

Union called off strike: Meanwhile, after four hours of negotiation with the Minister, the union decided to shelve the strike for two weeks to allow the authorities time to resolve their grievances.

Others at the meeting were the representative of the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) and the management of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

The Chairman, FCT chapter of the NUEE, Mr Godfrey Abah, said this during an interview with the NAN.

He said all the issues were presented and a high power delegation was set up to look into the matter and report back within two weeks.

”On that premise, we decided to suspend the strike for two weeks pending when the issues will be resolved,” he said.

Strike directive: Pulse had earlier reported that the workers withdrew their services from the Kaduna Regional Headquarters of the TCN in line with the directive issued by the union’s national leadership.

In a notice signed by its General Secretary, Joe Ajaero, the workers were directed thus, ”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 in acting capacity going to Assistant General Manager must appear for a promotion interview.

”This directive is in contravention of our Conditions of Service and Career Progression Paths and was unilaterally done without the relevant Stakeholders.”