Nigeria’s telecom sector risks disruption as about 800 workers from the Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association have embarked on strike until their demands are met.
The strike that began on Monday might force millions of subscribers to face a potential communication blackout.
The Secretary-General of the Association, Okonu Abdullahi made this known in a statement on Monday while announcing the commencement of the strike.
He noted that its members are over 800 working at various Nigeria telecoms company facilities, network centres and other critical telecommunications, including IHS and Huawei.
The union, among other things, is demanding the reinstatement of some of its sacked workers, recognition of the union, improved working conditions, and remittance of membership dues.
Abdullahi stated in the seven-day strike notice “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 recognize and respect the constitutional right of these workers to freely associate with the union, and the unjust sack of three members of the union,”
However, Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria, reacting to the development, said that the group is unknown to its members which include MTN, Globacom, Airtel, 9-mobile and other telcos in the country.
“This group is not known to us in ALTON, and the companies mentioned are not members of ALTON”, he stated.
