NUEE Inaugurates N1.5bn Business Ventures

Fri, Dec 25, 2015
By publisher
3 MIN READ

BREAKING NEWS, Power

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The National Union of Electricity Employees inaugurates projects meant to create employment and generate revenue for the union to help them not to rely on check off dues from members

AS part of its contribution to kick-start the wheel of the economy and boost its finan­cial base, the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, has inaugurated its business ventures estimated at N1.5 billion. The ventures include an office complex, apartment suites, a 36-room hotel and two Toyota 18-seat­er buses.

Other projects billed for completion early next year include a pole manufactur­ing company in Jos, Plateau State, guest houses and ho­tels in Lagos, Edo and Ower­ri, and office buildings in all the 36 states of the federation including Abuja.

At the inauguration ceremony, Joe Ajaero, secretary gen­eral of the union, said the union’s efforts would equally reduce unemploy­ment in the country as more than 150 workers have been pen­cilled down for employment. More workers will be added when the whole projects are completed.

Ajaero explained that the idea behind the ventures was also to provide jobs for some of its members, who lost their jobs, during the privatisation of the sector. But most im­portantly, he reasoned that the union’s leadership’s aim was to de-emphasise its reli­ance on check off dues from employers, which he said has reduced drastically.

He said: “All the priva­tised companies, the Discos and Gencos, refused to pay us check offs for about six months at inception, but if we have our investments, the companies would not be able to hold us to ransom. With our investments, we can keep the union afloat, just as we have in countries like Japan and South Africa; the unions there can conve­niently go on strike for three months and pay their mem­bers, while the battle lasts. It is our plan to be one of the best unions in the continent.”

Ajaero, however, stated that the projects are being funded directly from the selfless contributions of the members who had all re­ceived handsome severance packages due to intervention of the union.

Mansur Musa, president of the union, how­ever, expressed optimism that the incoming leadership would be able to build on the legacy achieved during his tenure. “It is our intention to sepa­rate the running of all the ventures from the union ac­tivities, we would only meet at the board, through that there would be accountabil­ity,” he said.

In his speech at the inauguration, Ero Phil­lips, first presi­dent of the union, who turned 87 recently, charged the new unionists to take issues of organising and welfare of their members more seriously. “This day, they don’t mo­bilise the way we were doing in those days. Workers who pay dues do not even know their secretaries or where the unions are located and what is prevalent today is that employers whose interest is only profit are not mindful of the workers interest,” he lamented.

— Jan 4, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT

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