Electricity workers under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) have suspended their ongoing strike for 2 weeks.
The decision of the union followed a meeting held with the Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige, Minister of Power, Mr Abubakar Aliyu, Minister of State for Power, Mr Goddy Jedy-Agba, and the representative of the Head of Service.
Also in the meeting were the management of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) as well as the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE).
According to NAN, the Chairman of FCT chapter of NUEE, who confirmed the development on Wednesday in Abuja disclosed that all the issues were presented and a high power delegation was set up to look into the matter and report back within two weeks.
He said, ”On that premise, we decided to suspend the strike for two weeks pending when the issues will be resolved.’’
Abah also said that the electricity union had written a letter to the Board of TCN to schedule a meeting with them to resolve the issue that it had with the power company.
Labour ministry also confirms suspension of the strike
Also confirming the development, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in a statement said that Dr Ngige has set up a tripartite committee to look into the grievances of electricity workers.
The ministry in a statement signed by its Spokesperson 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,” read a statement from the Head, Press and Public Relations of the ministry.
“Dr Ngige set up a tripartite committee to look into the grievances of electricity workers towards addressing them,” it added.
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”.
What you should know
- Recall that on Tuesday, August 16, electricity workers under the aegis of NUEE and the Senior Staff Association Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), grounded the operations of TCN nationwide with the picketing of its office across the country for reneging on the agreement it had reached with the unions some years ago.
- The aggrieved electricity workers who had vowed to paralyse the operations of TCN over its anti-masses activities said that the exercise that they carried out on Tuesday was a prelude to an indefinite strike action which is expected to commence today (Wednesday, August 17).
- Despite appeals from the Minister of State for Power and the TCN management for time to resolve the issues, the electricity workers made good their threat to continue with their industrial action resulting in total blackout in major cities across the country.
- NUEE in a letter dated August 16, 2022, signed by its General Secretary, Joe Ajaero, and addressed to the Minister of State for Power, said that members of the union would continue with its industrial action with a total withdrawal of service on Wednesday