The Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) and the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) have reiterated their opposition to privatization of the electricity sector and resolved to work together in stopping water privatization.
The two unions made the pledge at a workshop in Abuja on Promoting Transparency and Decent Work in Supply Chains in Electricity, Water and Waste Services in Sub–Saharan Africa supported by DGB Bildungs Week and Public Services International (PSI). The unions also lamented the collapse of the electricity sector in the hands of a private individual.
In his intervention on ‘Promoting Transparency and Decent Work in Supply Chains in Electricity, Water and Waste Services in Sub–Sahara Africa-Phase II’, NUEE acting General Secretary, Igwebike Dominic said members of the union are worried due to epileptic power supply, hence the call for reversal of privatization in the electricity sector.
He lamented poor policies and mismanagement of the sector which he said continuously affects Nigerians and called for an end to casualisation of workers.
According to him, “all workers must be treated as workers. We must ensure that we team up to stand against unfortunate policies.”
Similarly, the National President of AUPCTRE, Comrade Benjamin Anthony, urged members to unite, insisting that unity is necessary to enable the union to achieve success.
“We need to continuously work together to ensure success. We know that a lot of policies are affecting smooth operation in the sector but we must work together and stand strong.”
He lamented over the consistent collapse of the national grid, saying that those in power might be playing politics to garner resources for elections.
“But we have to play our roles effectively and protect the sector. We must also team up against certain policies that do not augur well for the Nigerian workers.
“We also need to set an example for our junior ones in the service and encourage the leaders.
Taking a cue, Comrade Abiodun Bakare PSI-DGB National Coordinator, said several engagements with rank-and-file recently in several states across the country revealed a lot of challenges faced by members.
He said the engagement was meant to gauge the pulse of members on the privatization plans of the government, noting that the challenges in the sector needed a collective approach by members to address them.
“We need to voice out our feelings on various issues and challenges so that we will unite as a team and face them”.
In her presentation, Comrade Abiodun Badru hailed the leadership of the two unions for their vision and leadership, extolling their selflessness in the discharge of their duties to members.
She said that the PSI-DGB is encouraging unions to build solidarity from Global North to the Global South, and mobilizing to defend the rights of workers and the people they provide services to.
“We are also building the gap for unions to have the capacity to engage and demand for workers’ rights”.
Speaking on Campaign Planning & Strategy, the Executive Director of Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), Philip Jakpor charged the union members to address certain questions to make their campaigns resilient. The questions include: What is the situation we want to change? Who is affected by the situation we are advocating for? What can we do to improve the situation? What resources are needed? And what tactics are available to implement the campaign? How do we measure success?
Jakpor also made another intervention on communication plans in a campaign, dwelling on the benefits of effective communication which includes giving a sense of direction, helping to map the audience, helping to to identify gaps in policy and advocacy, helping to identify message pillars and aiding evaluation, among others.
He stressed that such communication must be clear, concise, coherent, accurate, factual and proffer solutions.
On evaluation, he said that areas to focus on are changes occuring at legislative levels; Number of allies reached and recruited; Number of news hits and news links; number of articles, and number of social media likes and shares, among others.