By John Ikani
Hours after embarking on an industrial action which led to total blackout in different parts of the Nigeria, the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has suspended its strike.
The decision to suspend the strike
followed a meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige on Wednesday.
At the end of the three-hour-long meeting, the workers expressed optimism that government will listen to the voice of reason and priotise their welfare and wellbeing.
The issues are the alleged contravention in their Conditions of Service and Career Progression, stigmatisation of electricity staff by the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation and refusal of the market operators to fund the payment of entitlements of ex-PHCN staff as agreed in the December 2019 agreement.
Briefing journalist on the outcome of the meeting, Ngige said after exhaustive deliberations on the issues in dispute, they agreed to constitute a bipartite committee to look into the grievances of the electricity workers and report back in two weeks.
According to Ngige, the members of the bipartite committee include the Minister of State for Power, Jeddy Agba (Chairman), Permanent Secretary, Office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation, Permanent Secretary, General Services, Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, representative of Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) as well as two representatives from NUEE and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEC).
Also Speaking with journalists after the meeting, the President of NUEE, Comrade Joe Ajero, said the electricity workers would take a pause on the industrial action and wait for two weeks as agreed in the meeting for the government to address their grievances.
