NUPENG, NUEE, SSAEAC threaten to shut Egbin, other power plants

LAGOS — NATIONAL Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE; Senior
Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, SSAEAC, and
Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, have
threatened to shut down Egbin power station and other power plants
across the country following last Friday’s sack of 400 members of
NUEE, including its deputy president by management of Ikeja
Electricity Distribution Company, IKEDC.
NUEE, SSAEAC and NUPENG have already handed down a seven-day
ultimatum to the management of IKEDC to recall the affected workers
unconditionally or risk unprecedented industrial action, with NUPENG
saying it had already directed members at the Nigeria Gas Company,
NGC to commence a shutdown of supplies of gas to the thermal
stations and plants, if the 400 workers were not called back to work
when the ultimatum expired.
Vanguard learned that the management of IKEDC, as part of its
alleged anti-union posture and victimization of union members in
favour of casualisation of workers, last Friday sacked 400 union
members, including Mr. Christian Omemeh, a deputy president of
NUEE, without reason.
But the management of IKEDC said it was embarking on strategic
steps aimed at repositioning its business for better performance.
While expressing shock over the sack, NUEE and SSAEAC, in the
ultimatum to the IKEDC, lamented that since the takeover of the
company on November 1, 2013, the management had refused to put in
a place a mechanism to draw-up credible conditions of service that
would enjoy joint authorship of labour and employer for the benefit of
both staff and management.
They catalogued the alleged sins of IKEDC to include the sack of the
400 union members even though the management had claimed
nothing of such was coming.
“Union then demanded to know the parameters being used, and
management agreed to invite the headship of the union to
confidentially show them the parameters being used and how the
assessment is being done. Unfortunately, up till today, when
management has gone ahead to disengage another batch of about 400
of our members, no invitation has been extended to the union. This is
an exhibition of disrespect to the unions, contrary to best labour
practices.
“Arising from the above enumerated anti-labour behaviours therefore,
the union hereby issues you seven days to address all these demands
or we will be left with no alternative than to take legitimate means of
defending the interests of our members and this shall be without
further notice," the unions said.
Reacting to the sack, NUPENG in a statement by its President, Mr.
Igwe Achese, said: “The union has put its members on notice in NGC
to commence a shutdown of supplies of gas to the thermal stations
and plants if the 400 workers are not called back to work when the
seven-day ultimatum expires."
IKEDC defends sack
Defending the sack, the management of the company, through its
Head, Corporate Communications, Ikeja Electric, Felix Ofulue, said:
“The key objectives of the company is to create a high performing
organization, which satisfies the needs of all of our stakeholders,
especially our customers, as we reposition for growth. In the last few
months, the electricity distribution company has scaled up the
metering programme in order to meet the expectations of our
customers and further reduce the agitation on estimated billing. It has
also achieved significant strides in human capital development, which
is critical to the repositioning programme.
“As part of the strategic initiative, the company also embarked on a
re-engineering exercise focused on aligning the company’s structure
with its operating model and optimizing human capital capacity for
better efficiency. We wish to assure all our customers that the
organization has put in place processes to ensure excellent delivery of
quality service to our customers in 2016 and beyond.”