Over 2,000 workers of the Power Holding Company of
Nigeria, PHCN, embarked on a protest Monday, over the
delay in payment of the severance benefits to about 55
per cent of electricity workers.
The workers, under the aegis of the National Union of
Electrical Employees, NUEE, staged the protest at the Eko
and Ikeja Electricity Distribution Companies and threatened
to commence indefinite strike on November 1.
The workers locked the gates to the two offices and
prevented people from entering the premises.
"The reports reaching the union is that majority of banks
cannot give financial backing to the schedule sent to them
by the Federal Government.
This means that government does not have money,''
Adeleke Ibrahim, the Chairman of Lagos Chapter of NUEE,
who led the protest, told the News Agency of Nigeria,
NAN.
The union official said that if the workers' entitlements
were not paid by the end of October, the entire workforce
of PHCN in all the 36 states will embark on indefinite
strike. Mr Ibrahim said the union was not against
privatisation of the company.
"But government should pay all workers' entitlements
before the new owners will commence operation," he said.
He appealed to government to ensure that all the
agreements it signed with the workers were met to avert
the strike.
Mr Ibrahim said that some of the issues in contention
included non-payment of retirement savings to pension
fund administrators and non-remittance of dues of two per
cent deducted from workers' salaries to the unions.
Others are non-payment of benefits of retirees who
disengaged in 2011 and non-regularisation of service of
some casual workers.
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