BY ONWUKWE EZERU
The Abia chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday joined its counterparts in the country to seal the offices of Mobile Telecommunication Nigeria (MTN) in Aba and Umuahia.
Speaking while sealing the company’s office on Aba Road, Umuahia, the
Chairman of the congress, Chief Uchenna Obigwe, said that NLC was
averse to the casualization of workers by the company and its alleged
ban against unionism.
Obigwe said: “For over 10 years, we have been dialoguing with MTN to
allow its workers to join labour but nothing has happened to date.
“This means that there is no job security and the power to negotiate
is not there” “As NLC is negotiating for new minimum wage, if it is approved, they would not benefit.”
The labour leader said that NLC was disturbed by the poor wages paid
to workers of the telecom company.
He charged the regulatory agencies, including the Nigerian
Communications Commission, to take urgent steps to compel the company
to do the needful and ensure that workers got their due.
“We are worried that MTN does not allow its workers to form unions to
cater for workers interest.
“So we join MTN workers to fight against the ban against unionism and
demand that MTN allows its workers to organize themselves into
unions.”
Obigwe said that the only way the MTN workers would benefit from the
proposed minimum wage was for them to be part of labour.
He said that the picketing of the company was a national exercise
directed by the national leadership of NLC.
He said that the picketing would last for three days, during which
workers would be barred from work.
Our correspondent reports that the workers displayed play cards with different inscriptions, such as “NLC says no to casualization,” “Workers of MTN must unionize,” “No union, no MTN in Nigeria,” and “NLC says no to labour slavery. It is evil.”
