- Allege ant-labour practices in power sector
Workers under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) have threatened industrial unrest over alleged precarious and anti-labour practices in the power sector.
The acting General Secretary of NUEE, Dominic Igwebike, in a letter addressed to the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, issued a 21-day ultimatum, seeking the minister’s intervention on the precarious working conditions faced by workers in the Nigerian electricity supply industry (NESI), specifically pointing the finger at the GenCos and Discos.
Alleging that employers in the power sector act above the law, Igwebike said the union had written several letters to the minister’s office on precarious work in NESI, especially in GenCos and DisCos, since after privatisation of the electricity sector for more than 12 years, saying “the lackadaisical attitude of the employers and management(s) in the power sector and the ministry indicates they are not interested in the matter.”
He alleged that the sector had refused to collectively negotiate and implement procedural agreements and conditions of service, especially in the power-generating companies, and that they had also refused to implement the 2025 National Minimum Wage Act and its consequential adjustment, allow unionisation of workers in company premises, thereby infringing on workers’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and improve the working conditions of the workers in the sector, among others.
The NUEE chief said it had not only affected workers’ morale but also made them apprehensive and restive due to the prevailing job insecurity.
According to him, this goes a long way to attest to the failure of the privatisation exercise, urging the government to stand up to the challenge and bring parties together to iron out their differences for the greater good of the sector and the country at large.
“In view of the foregoing, we wish to demand the immediate resolution of all these anti-labour issues within 21days of receipt of this letter. We urge the Ministry to do the needful, we will not be constrained to take our fate into our hands by employing all legitimate labour weapon(s) suitable for the situation to defend the rights and interests of our members. This is not a threat,” he said.