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Hassan Sunmonu, the
mediator appointed to negotiate and reconcile government and members of
the organised labour over unresolved issues concerning the full
privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), has said
he would begin to collect memoranda and other submissions from
concerned parties after next week.

Mr Sunmonu, who is
chairman of the committee, said yesterday that memoranda and relevant
documents collected from both parties would be tendered as from May 3,
2011, to allow for effective circulation among interested parties,
ahead of the first meeting two weeks later.

“It is important
that submissions and documents are tendered and circulated in advance
in order to ensure meaningful and productive discussions from the
start. The first round of meetings to kick-start series of negotiations
between the Federal Government and the trade unions in the PHCN would
commence on May 16, 2011 in Abuja,” Mr Sunmonu said.

The former
secretary general, Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU),
made this known when he met with government representatives under the
chairmanship of the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chukwuemeka
Wogu.

Mediating truce

Mr Sunmonu, who
accepted the Federal Government offer for him to serve as Chief
Negotiator/Conciliator in the crisis last week, said a similar meeting
was held last Tuesday with members of the organised labour in Lagos,
preparatory to the commencement of the negotiation agenda on May 16,
2011.

The appointment of
the Sunmonu Committee is to help facilitate the peaceful and speedy
resolution of all labour issues in PHCN, as well as ensure full
involvement of the labour unions in the implementation of policies
under the Power Sector Reform process.

The organised
labour, through its umbrella organisations, the National Union of
Electricity Employees (NUEE) and Senior Staff Association of
Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), recently threatened to call
its members out on a nationwide industrial action that would throw the
nation in darkness from May 1 this year if government fails to publish
the White Paper on the report of the House of Representatives Committee
on Power, which probed the $16 billion scam involving the
implementation of projects under the National Integrated Power
Programme (NIPP).

Preceding the
14-day ultimatum was a demand by the union for government to
immediately take steps to resolve pending issues bordering on the
welfare of members, particularly with regard to the privatisation of
the PHCN.

The unions were
incensed that government was determined to go ahead to with its plan to
wind down the company, despite the lingering issue of workers’
unresolved entitlements.