Delta Steel: BPE, Labour Agree on Workers' Terminal Benefits
By Chris Nwachuku
As the controversy over the sale of Delta Steel Complex drags, on, the Bureau for Public Enterprise and the workers' organisations in the sector have agreed on the modalities for the payment of the terminal benefits should the privatisation of the firm scale through.
The agreement which involves the sale of non core facilities of the company appears to have removed one of the major bottlenecks associated with the sale of most public organisations.
THISDAY gathered that one of the major assets of the company which has been slated for sale to reduce the pension laibility is the 5 000 house units of DSC. Both BPE and the Iron and Steel senior Staff Association of Nigeria and and its junior satff cpunterpart agreed that the houses would be sold to the workers in lieu of the monetary benefits.
ISSAN General Secretary Adodo Didi who confirmed the development to THISDAY said that the National Council on Privatisation has endorse the arrangement. Already both parties are expected to value the houses and report to their next general meetings what the houses are worth.
In event of the cost of the houses falling below the total liability government is expected to make up for the differences " We have already worked out the details payment of the pension liabilities. The houses will be sold and the proceeds put in the pension fund. If the proceeds could not meet the liabilities, the federal government will make up for the difference" said Didi
Delta Steel Company whose sale was inconclusive at the recent opening bid has a staff strenght of about 4 000. It is designed to produce 960 000 tonnes of billets castable from one million metric tonnes of liquid steel. Apart from its billet plant which is expectyed to feed the in plant rolling mills
Two major factors hindering early sale of the company is the construction of rail linefrom Itapke and drainage of eskavo. The rail is expected to make the delivery of iron ore concentrates from National Iron Minning Company to DSC possible, while the Eskave if drainaged would allow for easy berth of ship. The exercise has proved difficult task for the bidding firms.
Didi said the workers would not get involved in the politics of the sale to aviod being targetted as the obstacle to the sale. He said the adice offered to government on how to revive the steel sector was ignored. " for now our major concern is that when the exercise is concluded the benefits of the workers would be secured. The workers must not be made to suffer under any arrangement"
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