Following unsuccessful negotiations
between the management of Ikeja Electric and the National Union of
Electricity Workers and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and
Allied Companies, workers and organised labour on Monday disrupted
business activities at the headquarters of the electricity distribution
company.
The workers, who were joined by some
Civil Society Organisations, expressed disappointment
at the abrupt
manner in which the management of the company pulled out of the
negotiations and vowed not to vacate the premises until a concrete
agreement had been signed.
Singing solidarity songs, the protesters
demanded that the 400 workers that were allegedly sacked without due
process should be recalled.
Between March 7 and 9, the aggrieved workers had staged similar protests and prevented access to the company’s premises.
The General Secretary, National Union of
Railway Workers, ’Segun Esan, demanded an explanation from the
management of Ikeja Electric for its withdrawal from the negotiation
without informing the leadership of the NUEE.
He said, “We want to listen to the
management. They should be bold to face us and tell us the reason why
they pulled out of the negotiation with labour. When we came here
initially, they talked us into starting a negotiation with them, which
we started.
“We were always here for the discussion,
and all of a sudden, without any salient reason communicated to labour,
they pulled out of the negotiation only for them to be saying that they
are now in court. It is not just about the 400 workers that were
sacked, it is about their dependants, their children, wives and families
that they are responsible to.”
The General Secretary, National Union of
Banks and Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees, Mohammed
Sheikh, asked the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde
Fashola, to probe the privatised power generating and distribution
companies for signs of sabotage.
He said, “We are insisting that due
process must be followed before Nigerian workers can lose their jobs.
The NUEE was not engaged in the dialogue and we found that a situation
that can be described as high handedness and the height of insensitivity
to Nigerian workers.
However, in a press statement issued on
Monday, the management of Ikeja Electric said it had filed a suit for an
injunction restraining the NUEE, SSAEAC, Nigeria Labour Congress as
well as their agents, officers, privies and representatives from
disrupting or shutting down the operations of the company or barricading
the entrance of its head office in Alausa, Ikeja.
It said the defendants joined in the
suit number NICN/LA/228/2016 filed on April 4, 2016 before the National
Industrial Court, Lagos, had been served.
It said, “It has come to the notice of
Ikeja Electric management that labour is bent on sabotaging the
operations of the business as their actions have gone beyond normal
agitation over the separation of their members from the business. The
company views these actions as attempts by a few individuals to sabotage
the economy of the country and frustrate the efforts of Federal
Government in improving electricity supply.
“Hence, Ikeja Electric has been specifically targeted for maximum impact, given that it is a major economic hub of the country.”
by Ife Adedapo
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