Employees of the Lagos State Water Corporation are currently in a state of anxiety as the state government sacked 450 casual workers last week Thursday.
Our correspondent learnt on Thursday that the affected staff members were shocked when they were served with sack letters on Tuesday and given an ultimatum to surrender all the government property in their care.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the decision to sack the workers jolted some of the staff members who were not affected by the exercise.
Some of the workers who spoke with our correspondent who visited one of the state waterworks on Thursday expressed fear that they might suffer a similar fate.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a staff member told PUNCH Metro that many of the laid-off staff members had spent several years working with the corporation.
She said, “Nobody knew this was going to happen. We were all shocked that a large number of people could be sacked in a day. Currently, these waterworks no longer have casual workers.
“One of my friends was affected by the decision. She has a family she is taking care of. She doesn’t even know where to start. She left the office weeping last week. Even if they are going to sack anyone, they should have given people more time to find alternatives.”
Meanwhile, PUNCH Metro’s further probe showed that the workers were laid off due to a claim that the state government wanted to undergo restructuring despite the current shortage of staff.
“We don’t have enough staff. As big as this place is, only one person is left to clean it. There were many of us at the maintenance units before. But now there are just the three of us left,” one employee said on condition of anonymity.
“They said they are restructuring, but how many staff will need to be sacked before this is accomplished?” another source queried in a separate interview with PUNCH Metro.
However, when contacted for his reaction, the Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Water Corporation, Kehinde Fashola, confirmed some workers were laid off because they breached the contract of agreement.
“The government found out that the Lagos Water management contract staff members have not been in accordance with the contract appointment law. Some of them have been contract staff for 10 years and some for five years, which is not in accordance with the country’s labour law.
“The normal time is two years. So, the government is trying to correct any abnormality without any bias,” she said in a telephone interview on Thursday.
