The Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees, (AUPCTRE), Renevlyn Development Initiative, (RDI), and the Joint Action Front, (JAF), have demanded that the Lagos State Government reinstate the 391 staff of Lagos State Water Corporation that were sacked recently.
The groups made a call during a joint press briefing on the Illegal Sack of the Lagos State Water Corporation (LWC) Staff.
Comrade Benjamin Anthony, the National President of AUPCTRE, in his address, lamented the insensitive treatment that the workers of the LWC are exposed to, adding that prior to the latest disengagement exercise, “in November 2023 about 450 contract workers engaged by the former management to complement the work of the permanent staffers were also booted out unceremoniously.”
Anthony noted that “the current sack breached Section 20 of the Labour Law which explicitly requires an employer to notify the trade union or workers’ representative of the reasons for and the extent of redundancy before terminating the employment of its staff on account of redundancy.”
On behalf of all the groups, Anthony demanded for the “unconditional reinstatement of all disengaged staff of the LWC. Arbitrary mass dismissals that run afoul of the law is a dangerous precedent of impunity which we will never accept;
“Probe into all the water contracts awarded in Lagos since 2007, blacklisting of identified contractors and recoup of all monies diverted;
“A halt to the ongoing privatization plans of water in Lagos. We have ample evidence that in virtually all cities where this same model was experimented, it led to rate hikes, poor quality service, shut-offs for the most vulnerable people in communities who cannot pay, lay-offs for workers as we are now witnessing, and other consequences that erode the universal access to water that the United Nations (UN) advocates.
“Termination of all partnerships and any collaboration that aims to foist water privatization in Lagos.”
Buttressing the importance of halting the water privatization plans, Philip Jakpor, Executive Director of Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), said the Lagos State Government had been warned against its water privatization plans as the needles job losses are as a result of privatization.
Jakpor lamented that the LWC is understaffed and the disengagement of almost 400 people who are breadwinners is insensitive and should be halted.
He said, “we find it absurd and totally untenable that the illegally disengaged staff of the Lagos State Water Corporation will be used as scapegoats for the decline in water services in Lagos which should be laid solely on the doorsteps of successive management handpicked by the state government. There is no discussion on this. The staff should be recalled.”