Electricity Workers Pause Planned Strike

ELECTRICITY workers, under the aegis of National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) have put their planned nationwide strike on hold, following the intervention of the Federal Government.
The two unions had threatened to embark on strike over unresolved issues in the power sector and to reiterate their demands for the implementation of the national minimum wage and other operational issues by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
The unions called off the action after extensive discussions with representatives of the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, and the labour unions.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed at the end of the meeting in Abuja on Thursday night by representatives of the Ministers of Power, as well as Labour, leaders of the labour unions, TCN and the National Independent System Operator (NISO) representatives to forestall the strike.
The MoU read: “After extensive discussions, among the agreements was the decision for the unions to consider the report of a standing committee between Oct. 6 and Oct.7, with a view to commencing its implementation in the same month.
“In addition, TCN and NISO are to jointly evaluate the financial implications of the report and prepare an implementation plan for presentation to the minister and the unions.”
It was also resolved that both unions would reconvene with TCN and NISO management to address other outstanding issues.
The MoU directed the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to fast-track the review of tariffs for TCN and NISO to enable implementation of the committee’s recommendations, and included a key clause stating that no employee would be victimised for participating in the industrial action.
Following the agreement, and in a show of goodwill, the unions announced the suspension of the planned strike to allow for the implementation of the resolutions reached during negotiations.