“We Have Been Imprisoned at Work”- Electricity Workers Express Anger Over Continued Detention of Staff, Issues 14-day Ultimatum to Egbin Power

Electricity workers under the auspices of National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, have issued a 14-day ultimatum to the management of Egbin Power over alleged continued detention of staff since March 27.

Some of the workers expressed sadness and anger over the fact that they have been unable to see their families for months now, being that they have been “imprisoned at work”.

In a letter dated July 2, NUEE General Secretary, Joe Ajaero, said “the union had received another distress call emanating from our members in Egbin Power Plc over their continued incarceration within the plant since March 27.”
The letter Further reads:
“We had made the above intervention on the basis that the Federal Government was gradually relaxing the lockdown and economic activities picking up.”
“Unfortunately, your management has remained adamant to the plight of the workers and the Union’s intervention.”
“Recently, a staff who had applied to your management to allow him take his very sick child for treatment on a Friday did not get the approval until Sunday, which led to the death of his son as a result of weakness incurred by the delay arising from management’s bureaucratic bottleneck.

“Rather than address these concerns, you have rolled out sanction grid for COVID-19 Protocols established by you. It is obvious that management is not taking heed to any of the advice, but bent on witnessing more deaths.”
“We had written to your management on several issues which include refusal to negotiate conditions of service that enjoys joint authorship, refusal to allow unionisation of workers as enshrined in Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution(as amended), delisting of the Union’s membership and arrears of union check-off deductions, among others.”

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