* As PHED, labour face-off enters day three

By Jimitota Onoyume

PORT HARCOURT—Residents of Rivers State yesterday continued to groan over the blackout that has enveloped the state since Wednesday following ongoing face-off between organised labour and the management of Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHED, over labour issues.

Governor Wike appealing to the protesters (Inset) David Legbaraa, the slain bus driver

Officials of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and its affiliate; National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, had Tuesday declared an indefinite industrial action against PHED in the four states of Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Bayelsa over alleged unfair labour practices.

When Vanguard visited the Moscow road office of PHED yesterday, the protesting NLC members were seen at the premises picketing the office and demanding among others, a recall of some staff sacked they claimed violated labour laws.

Some of the residents of Port Harcourt who spoke on condition of anonymity, said urgent steps should be taken to resolve the problem, saying “they should resolve this matter quickly because we the consumers are the ones paying the bills. They will still bill us for the period of the strike that we did not consume electricity. So they should resolve urgently.”

Corporate communications manager of PHED, Mr Jonah Iboma could not be reached for comment.

Similarly, in Yenagoa, the office of PHED was yesterday picketed by aggrieved workers.

Officials NLC and NUEE stormed the premises of the PHED located along the Opolo axis of the Mbiama-Yenagoa Road in the early hours of the day and locked the gates of the company, preventing access to the office.

Many customers who visited the Yenagoa office to pay their bills were turned back by the protesters.

Armed with placards some of which reads “PHED stop intimidation and slavery”, “Freedom of Association should not be denied staff”, “We want a stop to institutionalized casual contract appointment in PHED” and “Workers of PHED should be treated as responsible people,” were placed on the gates.

Factional chairman of the NLC in the state, Fred Demateide Oruseibo, said part of the grievances of the workers was arbitral dismissal and termination of appointments of employees without cogent reasons.

Oruseibo who doubles as the State Chairman of the NUEE, also cited deliberate refusal by the company to negotiate its procedural agreement and conditions of service of staff with labour, saying “the most annoying part is that most of their workers are casuals. We all know that casualisation of workers is against the convention of the International Labour Organisation and against Nigerian labour laws and they refuse to negotiate the conditions of service with the staff. They did that in order to enslave the workers.

“Again, not too long ago when they came and bought the company, they inherited staff that have been working in the company an about thirty-three operators were sacked. “These operators were on a salary scale of about N100, 000 to N150, 000 in a month, but they contracted their jobs to contractors who are now offering to pay N20, 000 and N30, 000”.