By Adeyinka Adeniran
Aggrieved electricity workers staged a peaceful protest against the sack of 17 of their colleagues and the casualization of workers without formal employment.
The workers, who occupied the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company office in the Ring Road area, on Thursday, alleged that some employees had worked as casual workers for years, receiving meager salaries without prospects of full employment.
The protesters also expressed concerns about deductions from staffers’ salaries without remittance.
They claimed that the sack of their colleagues by IBEDC was done without due consultation and violated labour laws, which require union members to be consulted before downsizing.
The protest during the protest carried placards and sang solidarity songs.
Inscriptions on some of the placards read, “Salary increment is now”, “IBEDC, implement new minimum wage”, “No to outsourcing slavery” and “Stand up, speak out, demand justice”, among others.
The protesters who shut the entrance gates of the IBECD headquarters office disrupted business transactions as they refused both staff and customers access to the facility.
The Zonal Organising Secretary, National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Victoria Awodire who led the protest said the sack of 17 workers was against the agreement the management had with the workers and will not fold its arms for more workers to be laid off.
She said “People are working for IBEDC without the appropriate tools, no working vehicles. The working condition is so precarious. People go out and labor every day. A lot of people are sick because they are overworking. Yet you say they are not performing. What they are in town to sell is not available.
“There is no electricity. You people cannot pay for what they are not enjoying and you know this is a fact. The bottom line is people are trying because this is our company together. People are trying their best but you are not giving them the enabling environment. So few days ago we just woke up to a news of 17 staff sacked for non-performance without warning, without any consultation, without anything.”
“In year 2021, the union (NUEE) and the management had an agreement that whenever you see the need to terminate any staff appointment, who are our members that we represent, the normal thing for you to do is to call the union, the union representative to dialogue together, to sieve it together until you see how it goes.
“But now we have a condition of a work and active condition of service but they are not using it. They are not following due process. No warning, nothing. We just woke up to it. They even send it to them via email so that it will be secret. Why we are here is we cannot stand at akimbo and let them sack more people.
“In Nigeria of today, for each person that is working, whether he or she is married or not, there must be 2 or 3 people attached to that person. Not talk of 17 people. And if we just overlook it like that, it will be unfair on our members.
Also speaking, Abdulrasheed Abdulrasak, one of the sacked workers who joined in the protest called on the government through the regulatory bodies to intervene and stop casualisation of workers.
He said he has been working for the company for the past eight years but has not had it smooth, saying, “I have been working for this company for the past 8 years. And I can’t imagine a company as great as IBEDC should be paying its worker, its staff, N50,000 per month. For the past 8 years, with the situation, with the inflation rate of this country, how do you want us to cope? We are graduates.
I’m an HND holder. I started working with this company as far back as 2013. And as the working manager, we understand the situation of the country.
But at the same time, as we are managing this company, this company should take our workers as priority. We go to the customer, despite the challenges of supply to the customer, we persuade them to pay. And we’ve been giving targets every month.
“We have been threatening that without meeting the target, we’ll be sacked. But because we know the situation of the country, we try to endure, we try to persuade, we try to ensure that we don’t go into yahoo, we don’t go into ritualism. Please, we are imploring federal government, the state government, the local government, the authority, the regulatory body to come and intervene.
When contacted, the management said the sacked employees were placed on probation for several months before being let go due to lack of improvement.
Speaking, the Head of Branding and Corporate Communication IBEDC, Angela Olanrewaju, denied the use of casualisation of workers in its employ, adding that such duties have been outsourced.
She said the action of the workers did not affect business operations, adding that the picketing was organized by the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE).
She said “The Management of IBEDC wishes to reiterate our commitment to excellence in service delivery and staff welfare at all times.
“We urge our customers and various stakeholders across our franchise areas to disregard media reports that our workers have embarked on strike beginning today.
“As we are aware of reports circulating that employees of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) went on strike today. We would like to clarify that the action in question was a picket organized by the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE).
“One of the concerns raised was the alleged unjust exiting of certain staff members, along with other issues brought forward by the union.
“We want to emphasize that the staff members in question were let go due to consistent poor performance, following the company’s Conditions of Service and proper procedures were followed in these exits.
“Regarding other concerns related to staff welfare, we want to affirm that the company has always prioritized the well-being of its employees. Despite the ongoing economic challenges in the country IBEDC has consistently paid the full salaries of its employees each month.
“IBEDC remains dedicated to excellent staff welfare, maintaining a positive work environment and safeguarding the interests of both its employees and stakeholders.”
