Electricity Workers Union Suspends Nationwide Strike

The National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has suspended its nationwide strike.

Electricity Workers Union Suspends Nationwide Strike
Electricity

The House of Representatives has assured Nigerians that the implementation of the agreement between the National Union of Electricity Employees, the Bureau of Public Enterprises and the Federal Ministry of Power will be granted to address the grievances that led to the workers’ strike action.

The National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has suspended its nationwide strike.

The strike was suspended after the union reached an agreement with the FG at a meeting with senior government officials

The Speaker, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, said the House would ensure that members of the NUEE “are henceforth treated rightly by the Federal Government to prevent another strike by the workers.”

Gbajabiamila noted that the industrial action by the NUEE members on Wednesday paralysed economic activities in the country.

The House had suspended plenary on Thursday for the leadership to meet with the Minister of Labour, Employment and Productivity, Mr Chris Ngige; the Minister of State for Power, Mr Goddy Jedy-Agba, officials of the BPE and leadership of the NUEE.

Gbajabiamila appealed to the union to “exercise higher tolerance” before thinking of embarking on strike as their action could affect lives negatively.

He said, “From all indications, this matter will be resolved permanently. This matter was discussed on the floor of the House yesterday (Wednesday) and we decided that it would be addressed by the leadership, not by any committee; not because the committee doesn’t have competence but because of the seriousness.

 

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“This issue has unintended consequences on Nigerians. Within the hours you are on strike, a lot of things may have happened. But they may not be reported.

“Let me plead with the electricity workers that your power of tolerance should be higher than any of us because your work and what you do or fail to do can affect lives. You should be able to sacrifice more.

“We want to make that agreement a tripartite agreement and include the House of Representatives as part of it. We want to be part of the agreement as witnesses so that you can hold us accountable. That way, we’ll ensure that the government meets its part.”

Ngige has earlier told the House that he was disturbed by the strike, saying the union did not duly notify his ministry about its planned action.

The minister said, “I want to register my great displeasure at what has happened. This is because electricity is an essential service after the hospital. In fact, if you shut down electricity, you will end up killing people. It was unfortunate that they had to go on strike without involving us much on the issue. I didn’t find it funny that the whole economy was thrown into a gargantuan loss.”

Also, the General Secretary of the Union, Joe Ajaero, said the action was called off in the early hours of Thursday following a tripartite meeting between the leaders of the union, BPE and the Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo.

The union had earlier commenced the industrial action on Wednesday after a 21-day ultimatum issued to the Minister of Power Saleh Mamman.

Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDP) in a tweet on Thursday said following the suspension of the strike by NUEE, they are back to business. They also thanked their customers for their patience while the strike lasted.

“Dear customer, National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has suspended its strike. Our offices & payment channels are open for business. Thank you for your patience & understanding,” the tweet read.