The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has appealed to electricity workers to suspend their proposed indefinite strike action scheduled to kick off from today (Wednesday) nationwide.
The company’s Managing Director, Dr. Sule Abdulaziz, made the appeal in a letter to the workers after the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) in a circular on Monday had directed its members to cripple operations of TCN nationwide.
The TCN boss said: “We are pleased to inform you that management has suspended the said proposed interview for those on acting appointment of Assistant General Managers and General Managers while we conclude discussion with the board.
“On the other two issues: circular from the office of Head of Service on stigmatisation of the defunct PHCN staff; payment of entitlement of ex-PHCN staff by market operator, the management has contacted the Honourable Minister of Power for his further action.
“In view of this development, we appeal to your union to stay action; please accept the assurances of our highest regards”, Abdulaziz assured.
In a letter dated August 15, the Federal Minister of State for Power, Mr. Goddy Jedy-Agba, notified the leadership of the union that the ministry was committed to proffering solutions that would be acceptable to all parties concerned.
He appealed to the leadership and union members “to allow us two weeks from the date of this letter to address the issues and come up with proposals toward acceptable resolution of all issues.“
It would be recalled that NUEE had on May 18, issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of TCN, threatening a strike if its complaints were not addressed.
The union had demanded the immediate payment of entitlement of former staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in December 2019 by the Federal Government amongst other labour-related issues.
In another circular issued by the NUEE on August 15, the members were directed to picket TCN offices nationwide as from Tuesday, August 16, after which the strike will commence on August 17 nationwide.
