MTN staff protest suspension of colleagues

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the staff carried placards, some of which read “Say ‘No’ to slave wage”, and “MTN and CNSSL are partners in crime”.

The protesting staff were, however, orderly and peaceful as they were surrounded by some policemen and men of the security Special Task Force.

It would be recalled that the Call Centre staff were allowed to form a union after the centre was picketed on March 14, 2012 by the Nigerian Labour congress (NLC) over poor conditions of service.

In the Memorandum of Understanding signed then by the NLC and the CNSSL management, the latter permitted the workers to join unions of their choice.

Paul Afolabi, the acting Chairman of the Call Centre’s branch of the National Union of Telecommunications Employees, claimed that the affected staff had done nothing wrong to warrant any suspension.

Mr. Afolabi told NAN in an interview that CNSSL management and NLC agreed then that nobody would be victimised, thus leading to the opportunity to form unions.

“This is a ploy to divert attention from the issues on ground. We will not be deterred until they improve our conditions of service.

“The difference between what we take in Jos here and those of other call centres in Lagos, Kano and Kaduna is just too much,” the union official said.

He said, as a way of pressing home their demands, the staff would not honour the slated meeting with the management on May 3, 2012 unless the workers are recalled.

Efforts to speak with Jibrin Bancir, the Plateau NLC Chairman, proved abortive as calls to his mobile phone lines were not going through.

The management of the centre, on its part, refused to talk to NAN on the matter after several efforts.