- Telecom service risks shutdown as workers from the Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association embark on strike
- The union demands reinstatement of some of its sacked workers and recognition of the union, amongst other things
- The president of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Tony Emoekpere, emphasised the importance of protecting the telecom sector
Nigeria’s telecom sector risks shutdown as about 800 workers from the Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association have embarked on strike, threatening to cripple services nationwide.
The union, largely contract staff, warned of massive disruptions to telecom operations if its demands were not met, as this would leave millions of subscribers to face a potential communication blackout.
The strike began on Monday, September 9, and the union’s demands include, among other things, reinstatement of some of its sacked workers, recognition of the union, improved working conditions, and remittance of membership dues.
“The strike has become inevitable because of the prevalent precarious working conditions our members are enduring in the sector, the refusal of the employers to recognise and respect the constitutional right of these workers to freely associate with the union, and the unjust sack of three members of the union,” it stated in its seven-day strike notice.
The union’s Secretary-General, Okonu Abdullahi, said the association’s 800 workers play a significant role in managing critical infrastructure, such as base stations for infrastructure companies such as IHS and Huawei.
“The implications of the strike will be massive because we have told all our members not to respond to any service outage from our employers. The fact remains that there are outages every day, and if our engineers do not respond to those outages, subscribers in those areas will be affected,” he said.
He said members of the union include field maintenance engineers, transmission engineers, customer service engineers, fibre engineers, and other critical staff working for telecom service companies.
The culpable companies include Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited, Tylium Nigeria Limited, Specific Tools & Techniques, CPNL (Chinese Pacific Networks Limited), CITCC (China International Telecommunications Construction Corporation), and JUSPARTNER.
Telecommunication companies such as MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile typically own base stations and fibre infrastructure but often outsource their management to specialised service companies. These companies, in turn, sometimes subcontract the work to smaller contractors who employ the striking workers. This complex web of outsourcing has led to concerns about worker welfare and job security.
Meanwhile, the telecom union embarked on a similar strike in April over a similar situation, which was resolved through a reconciliatory meeting convened by the Ministry of Labour between the union and the telecom servicing companies.
According to the PTECSSAN secretary, “The Labour Ministry had intervened in our previous industrial action, but unfortunately, the companies are still repeating the same issues, which have now escalated because we have more members participating in this strike.
“We have given them ample opportunity to address our demands, but they have chosen to ignore us. If they continue to neglect our grievances, we will have no choice but to take more drastic measures.”
The president of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Tony Emoekpere, stated that he was not aware of the matter regarding the potential strike by telecom workers, as the union is not affiliated with the association.
However, Emoekpere emphasised the critical importance of protecting the telecom sector, saying, “Telecom services have become a critical infrastructure that must be safeguarded at all costs.”
He further stressed the importance of the telecom industry to the country, stating that its stability must be safeguarded and cannot be compromised.
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