Why we picketed MTN – telecom union
Members of the Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PTEXSSAN) have stated their grievances against telecom giant, MTN Nigeria.
The workers Wednesday picketed the MTN Nigeria PLC plaza, in Falomo, Lagos, to demand what they claimed was the rights.
They listed MTN’s alleged resistance to workers’ right to freedom of association, freedom to organise and collective bargaining.
The union also accused MTN of paying exit packages to its management staff but refusing to do the same to the lower cadre.
Okonu Abdullahi, PTECSSAN’s general secretary, claimed MTN refused to negotiate
the working conditions of workers in its employ and all along spurned their call on it to do so.
“When you have a trade union, there must be a collective bargaining agreement, which is a pointer to the existence of the union in any organisation.
“But, MTN is running away from negotiating the CBA: the procedural agreement was signed and as a result of this, it escalated to the Ministry of Labour.
“A very good example which the management is running from is the exit benefits: how can workers be working for several number of years and you are not giving them terminal benefits
“We insisted as a responsible union that there must be an exit benefit. In the procedural agreement. It was agreed that no item should be exempted, but now to come to the table to start negotiating, MTN took off.
“Ultimately if they are still refusing like they have always been doing to sit down with us and negotiate, we can assure them that their network will have to be disrupted,” he said.
The protesters held placards that bear inscriptions such as “Workers Rights are Human Rights”; “Unionism is a Right and not a Privilege” and chanted solidarity songs.
