On Wednesday, organized labor has ordered power sector workers to begin an indefinite strike over pending labor issues with the Transmission Company of Nigeria, further threatening Nigeria’s already precarious electricity supply situation (TCN).
Tuesday saw members of the National Union of Electricity Employees picketing outside the Abuja offices of the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
Employees of the now-defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) have filed a formal complaint with the Federal Government, claiming that they were not paid their December 2019 entitlement.
Workers represented by the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) have claimed that this is a prelude to a general strike beginning on August 17.
Joe Ajaero, general secretary of NUEE, issued a circular titled “call to action” in which he ordered members to ensure full compliance and threatened to shut down TCN across the country due to the network’s role in anti-mass activities.
As a result of this stalemate, the country’s electricity crisis is likely to worsen starting on Wednesday.
In response to the TCN Board’s directive that all acting PMs attending the AGM must appear for a promotion interview, the circular instructed employees to “mobilize immediately for a serious picketing of TCN Headquarters and stations nationwide.”
This order goes against our terms of service and career advancement opportunities, and was made without consulting the appropriate parties.
As of the following day, Wednesday, August 17, 2022, all services will be completely withdrawn. Make sure every station in the country is in complete compliance.
The union gave the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer a 14-day ultimatum on May 18.
The union threatened to stop working at the end of the deadline if its concerns were not addressed in a circular titled “Unresolved issues on the year 2021 promotion exercise and others.”