Despite the rejection of the N384bn approved as severance package by the workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, the Federal Government is standing its ground, OKECHUKWU NNODIM writes
Nothwithstanding the approval of N384bn as total pay-off for workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria by the Federal Government, there seems to be no end in sight to the face-off between the two parties.
The workers on Thursday rejected the offer, which was announced the previous day.
However, the government has said the amount represents the legitimate entitlements of the workers.
The workers, on their own, said that it was way behind the actual sum required to take care of the 50,000 employees of the firm.
They said the figure approved by the government excluded 17,000 workers.
But the Federal Government, through the Bureau of Public Enterprises, on Saturday, refuted the claim by the workers, insisting that it met with the unions and reached an agreement with them before arriving at the approved sum for their final entitlements.
The workers, under the aegis of the Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, however, said they never agreed with the government on the approved sum, which the Minister of Labour, Mr. Emeka Wogu, announced on Wednesday.
The PHCN workers said the actual amount that would fully offset their entitlements was in excess of N500bn.
The Secretary-General, NUEE, Mr. Joe Ajaero, said the union leaders did not meet with government’s team to ratify N384bn as the actual sum to settle the workers’ final entitlements.
He said, “How can it be the actual calculation? Who calculated it? Maybe what they approved is for the people they sacked in the year 2000 and not for this dispensation; or maybe they want to pay us bonus, because nobody met with them. Nobody discussed with them and so they can’t just bring the sum and say we should work on it.
“We have been talking the technical and implementation committees to work out the entitlement and we are yet to work out things before somebody just came out and mentioned a figure.”
Ajaero said when the workers met with the government recently, both parties agreed on the different percentages that would be paid to the workers.
“All of them (government officials) have copies of the agreement and the agreement did not talk in naira terms,” he said.
According to him, a committee was only raised to look at the financial implications and the total amount meant for workers from the various states.
“Which other meeting did they have with us since that agreement was signed?,” the NUCE Secretary-general asked.
Ajaero said only the government could resolve the problem.
He said, “The government appointed Alexandra Forbes, and the firm went with our people to do the actuarial valuation. When they got there, they got this figure of N384bn. But we discovered that the figure was for 33,000 workers, while we have about 50,000 workers.
“Some people were demoted and their salary reduced by two grades. And when we brought this issue up, the BPE and Forbes apologised. They said they were going back to correct their data. So, based on that, a form was introduced for people to fill in their actual entries. That form has not been collated and somebody went ahead to announce N384bn, cutting out over 15,000 workers.”
The Secretary-General, SSAEAC, Mr. Abiodun Ogunsegha, said the government had shown signs of trying to mitigate the crisis between it and the unions.
He said, “But they cannot succeed if they fail to get the services of an implementation committee that will tell them the true position and amount meant for the workers.”
“The amount approved is a good step, but that is not what we agreed as it is not going to capture all workers in the sector.”
However, in a twist, the Acting Director-General, BPE, Mr. Benjamin Dikki, told our correspondent that the calculation of the total amount payable was based on the agreement signed between labour and government.
He said, “The agreement specified the specific allowances and entitlements payable, including gratuity, severance benefits, payment in lieu of notice, redundancy, and all other allowances as enshrined in the conditions of service of PHCN workers.
“So, every computation was based on what is in the PHCN conditions of service. And we have done the calculation of this based on the salary of all the PHCN staff members, including a provision for casual workers, whose appointments are to be regularised and made permanent.”
Dikki said after the government had signed the agreement with the workers, BPE organised a workshop for the union members in Lagos to explain to them the mode of computation used in arriving at the total amount.
He said, “I want to assure you that no worker is going to be excluded. Government will not pay half and leave half; it can’t happen. The computation is for every member of staff in PHCN, including casual workers who are going to be regularised, and already, a biometric capture of all the staff members has been done.
“All employees of the power firm were invited to do biometric verification and what we are having is a complete list of PHCN workers; nobody is excluded.”