Victor AHIUMA-YOUNG

WORKERS in the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, have insisted on the October 31 deadline to the Federal Government and their management to pay the 50 percent agreed salary increment or risk industrial unrest.

The threats came against speculations that instead of the 50 percent pay rise agreed to and signed between government and the workers, government is preparing to pay them only 37 percent.

It will be recalled that the workers and PHCN management agreed on 150 percent pay rise, of which only 15 percent had since been paid. The 50 percent was the final agreement after the government-appointed conciliator, pioneer President of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Secretary General, Organisation of African Trade Unions Unity, OATUU, Comrade Hassan Sumonu, prevailed on labour to accept at a conciliatory meeting.

Sweetcrude gathered that both organised labour and Comrade Sumonu have kicked against the government’s latest antics and have totally rejected it.

A labour leader in the sector who spoke on condition of anonymity, said government was playing with fire as the workers would not accept anything less than 50 percent, as this was a compromise by the workers.

The two in-house unions in the power sector, the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, and its Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, SSAEAC, counterparts had on October 14, issued the October 30 deadline to pay the 50 percent salary increases or face industrial unrest.

General Secretary of NUEE, Comrade Joe Ajaero, told SweetCrude that the ultimatum remained and that the choice was government’s, to either trigger off or avoid industrial unrest in the sector at this critical point in time.

In a separate letters to the PHCN management, NUEE and SSAEAC noted that the new pay package ought to have begun since June, but has been delayed, adding they were no longer in a position to restrain the workers after the expiration of the ultimatum.

The NUEE letter signed by Ajaero, read in part; “Workers in the industry have flooded our Secretariat with complaints of non-reflection of the 50% salary increase in their September 2011 salary as previously promised by Government. We are amazed at this unwarranted development because Government made it very clear in our maiden negotiation meeting in Abuja on May 19, 2011 that enough fund had been set aside to take care of all financial implications emanating from the negotiations.

“The non-implementation of this salary increase clearly suggests to us that Management and Government are only paying lip service to the spirit of tripatism and social dialogue. In view of this mistrust deliberately created by Government, we cannot but carry our destiny in our hands to salvage our situation.

“We therefore demand that the salary increase including the arrears from 1st June, 2011, be paid to workers in the industry not later than October 31, 2011. We have waited enough. At the expiration of this two weeks’ notice, the Union would not guarantee industrial peace in the sector.”

Similarly, the SSAEAC letter by its Secretary General, Comrade Abiodun Ogunsegan, to the Minister of Power warned that workers should not be held responsible for any action to be taken by them if the agreement reached on the 50% salary increase is not implemented by the end of this month

The letter, also copied to the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of PHCN, read: “We need to inform you that in breach of our line of communication, the Honourable Minister dispatched letters to the market Operators, the CEOs, and station heads on the payment of the negotiated 50% salary increase, thereby creating serious distortions in the information flow and consequently affecting the payment of the salary increase agreed.

“The 50% salary increase negotiated in May 2011, was to take effects from June 2011, and be effected in staff salaries from September 2011 as Government had stated and pleaded in the negotiations with the unions in July 2011. However, the report we received from our members is that the new pay is yet to be computed for payment due also to the lackadaisical attitude and lack of commitment of the management and the Government to pay.

“We wish to draw you attention to the increasing uneasiness among our members due to the refusal to pay as agreed and wish to inform you that we will not be held responsible for any action taken by the workers, if by October 31, 2011, payment of the arrears of 50% salary increase from June to September 2011, and salary of October incorporating the 50% is not effected.”

Theworkers, however “called on the Government to intervene on the implementation of the 50% salary increase, stressing that when the announcement was made in May 2011, it was not clear to Nigerians that by September 2011, the implementation is yet to take-off.”