•The entrance to IBEDC office in Abeokuta, Ogun State
The Ogun State office of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has been put under lock and key as electricity workers commenced an indefinite strike over minimum wage and staff welfare.
They said the action is necessary because of alleged non-implementation of the new minimum wage, non-remittance of pension and cooperative deductions, and alleged disengagement of 17 staff among other staff welfare concerns.
As monitored in Abeokuta, staff members were seen milling around the gate to the premises, reports Channels TV.
Customers who had come for business transactions were turned down.
The Vice President of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Lagos/Ogun Zone, Abiodun Shobayo, said that the workers had no option but to embark on an indefinite strike given the unwillingness of the IBEDC management to attend to their concerns.
“We are here this morning to say ‘Enough is Enough;’ that the IBEDC management cannot continue to take us for a ride for issues we have been talking to them for about nine months,” he said.
“For instance, our pensions and cooperative deductions running to billions of naira are not remitted. We are not given interest, people have been using their money to run the company, to clear electricity faults, and to distribute electricity bills.
“The management is not ready to implement the new minimum wage. They are not ready for negotiation, complaining that there is no fund. They have also started sacking workers indiscriminately without recourse to the conditions of service.
“About 17 of our members are already affected but we have said this cannot stay. We have tried to be patient with them but it is like they have a hidden agenda. Just recently, 900 staff of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company were sacked, we don’t want such here.
“70% of people working here are casuals and we have said this is not right. Anyway, the strike is indefinite until the management is ready to see reason with us. The strike action cuts across where we have IBEDC franchises and these are the six states of the South-West, Kwara, and Kogi.
“We demand that all monies owed us should be paid, the sacked workers must be reinstated and then we can be talking about calling the strike off.”
