The General Secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees, Comrade Joe Ajero, said on Wednesday that local and multinational companies should jettison the idea of outsourcing workers to agencies that enslave them.
He revealed this in Kano while signing on the Condition of Service for staff of Kano Electrical Distribution Company Plc
According to him, the system of outsourcing and casulising are still illegal because agencies are only out to exploit workers. “The agencies benefiting from the outsourced staff are usually owned by some persons within the management of those companies.”
He said that prior to the privatisation exercise, they were able to clear the issue of outsourcing from the power sector adding that, “if you must outsource we must know the owners of those companies, so that we must negotiate their own welfare. You cannot make them slaves forever “
To the management of the Kano Electricity Distribution Company Plc, he said the signing of the workers condition of service was five years behind schedule as they have long signed the contracts of Discos in Ibadan, Jos, Abuja , Kaduna among others.
“A good industrial relations in a sector boosts productivity” he stated, and that union and the management were able to achieve signing of the contract without any conflict”, he stated.
He added that the rate of disengagement in the company would certainly reduce as the contract imposes a financial responsibility on the part of the company whenever it disengages staff.
He noted that as they celebrate the new contract, a lot of depends on the willing implementation of its terms by the management while asking the workers to redouble their efforts to improving the fortunes of the company.