The staff of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) on Thursday embarked on an indefinite strike in Ogun, Oyo, and Kwara States over the non-implementation of the new minimum wage.
They are also protesting the non-remittance of pension and cooperative deductions.
In Ogun, the workers locked the gates to the IBEDC office at Leme in Abeokuta.
In a chat with journalists at the office entrance, the Vice-President of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Lagos/Ogun Zone, Abiodun Shobayo, said the workers were left with no other option but to proceed on the strike.
He said the IBEDC management would not be allowed to take the workers for granted on issues that had been on for nine months.
Shobayo said: “For instance, our pension contributions and Cooperative deductions running to billions of Naira have not been remitted.
“Also, we are not given imprest, and our people have been using their money to run the company, to clear electricity faults, and go about to distribute electricity bills.
“Furthermore, the management is not ready to implement the new minimum wage. It is not ready for negotiation, complaining that there is no fund.
“It has also started sacking workers indiscriminately without recourse to the conditions of service.”
The workers also shut down the company’s offices in Ibadan and Ilorin respectively.
They carried placards with inscriptions such as “Reverse your illegal disengagement of our members now,” “No more half salary,” and “We say ‘no’ to your executive orders.”