PHCN privatisation: Labour not opposed to reforms - NUEE

ORGANISED labour in the power sector has affirmed that it is in full support of the reforms currently ongoing in the sector, but it would not support the maltreatment of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) workers, who may be retrenched at the end of the transition.Federal Government, National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) had been at loggerheads over what becomes the fate of PHCN workers with respect to retirement benefits.General Secretary, NUEE, Joe Ajaero, disclosed to the Nigerian Tribune on Monday that the unions were committed to the reforms in the sector, but argued that all outstanding issues must be settled before new owners would come on board.The Federal Government had accused labour of frustrating its reform agenda in the power sector, through mismanagement of fund, as the Minister of Power, Professor Bart Nnaji, said the whole pension fund, otherwise called superannuation fund, had been mismanaged by the union leadership.However, Ajaero denied the claim that the labour unions mismanaged any fund, because they were not signatories to the accounts, adding that from inception, ministers had been managing the fund.Ajaero further said the union would not compromise on the payment of the deducted 25 per cent of workers' salaries as pension payment.
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