Striking workers of the Nigerian Telecommuni-cations Limited (NITEL) yesterday suspended their two-week old industrial action just as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) called on the telecom company�s management to apologise to the leadership of the striking workers.
The workers had downed tools to press home their demand for the payment of outstanding salaries and allowances, which they put at about N4.2 billion.
But the National Association of Telecommunications Emplo-yees (NATE) rejected the suspension of the strike, insisting they had earlier passed a vote of no confidence on the unions that signed the deal.
Announcing the suspension of the strike yesterday, Deputy-General Manager, Corporate Communications, Bala Ibrahim Abdulkadir, said �Consequent upon the suspension of the strike by the unions, official duties resumed yesterday in all NITEL offices and exchanges across the country.�
Abdulkadir hinted that the company had commenced the disbursement of outstanding salaries and furniture allowance to the company�s zonal offices in Abuja, Lagos, Enugu, Kaduna and Bauchi for further disbursement to the staff in such locations.
�Staff who have not reported for duty are consequently implored to report for work immediately�, he said.
�Although it was agreed in the communiqu� that no disciplinary action shall be taken against any staff for participating in the strike, this does not cover staff who do not report for duty after the call-off of the strike. NITEL staff who therefore refuse to report for work immediately do so at their own peril.
�We will like to express our appreciation to our customers for their endurance, cooperation and understanding during the strike which disrupted our services. NITEL is taking measures to avoid a recurrence of the situation and putting in place facilities that will improve the services offered,� Abdulkadir said.
However, the National Association of Telecommuni-cations Employees (NATE) yesterday also said they are rejecting the suspension of the strike, insisting that the agreement reached at the meeting was not binding on NITEL workers since they had earlier passed a vote of no confidence on the unions that signed the deal.
The union had rejected Federal Government�s offer of N1.7 billion for the settlement of outstanding emoluments, describing the fund as grossly inadequate.
Federal Government had on Monday announced the release of N1.7 billion to offset the backlog of salaries owed employees of the telecom company after weeks of industrial unrests culminating in the strike and the split of the principal industrial unions.
A section of the workers did not only dissociate themselves from the strike called by the National Union of Post and Telecommunications Employees (NUPTE) and the Senior Staff Association of Utilities, Statutory Corporations and Government Companies (SSAUSCGOC) but went ahead to form a parallel union called National Association of Telecommunications Employees (NATE) and then announced their own strike.
Protem President of the new group, Mr. Charles Amankwe, said NITEL workers had lost confidence in the ability of NUPTE and SSAUSCGOC to rescue the workers from the stranglehold of hunger occasioned by the non-payment of staff salaries and allowances.
Amamkwe, at a news conference in Abuja, said while the workers appreciate Federal Government�s efforts to bail NITEL out of its present predicament, the union was not in a hurry to accept any half measures.
He disclosed that at the moment, the workers were being owed a total of N4.276 billion made up of N642 million furniture allowance for 2005, N1.49 billion in housing allowance for 2006, N272 million balance of February 2006 salary, N585 million March 2006 salary, N702 million April 2006 salary and education subsidy as well as N585 million April 2006 salary.
Amamkwe noted that these outstanding salaries and allowances were far too much compared with what the Federal Government has reportedly released, stressing that it will be better to tackle the issue once and for all.
He expressed sympathy with GSM operators whose services had been hampered in recent days due to the strike by NITEL employees and advised all organisations and institutions owing NITEL to pay up and save the industry from further hiccups.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the management of NITEL to apologise to the leadership of the National Association Telecommunica-tion Employees over the unwarranted harassment, arrest, detention and dehumanisation of four NITEL staff on Monday in Abuja.
In the same vein, the Congress also demanded the withdrawal of the charges against the four workers.
In a protest letter signed by NLC acting General Secretary Owei Lakemfa and addressed to Mr. Mashi, Chief Executive Officer of NITEL, the NLC further requested that Messrs A. T Dere, M. J Ojie, A. A Adio and Joseph Amuwa who were transferred out of Abuja due to alleged disagreements with some labour leaders be recalled to their former post.
In addition, NLC also advised NITEL management to open dialogue with the union led by Mr. Charles Amankwe while stating the commitment of NLC to assist in the process of negotiation and returning NITEL to normalcy.
NLC in the protest letter made available to THISDAY said �It is an open secret that the ongoing strike by NITEL staff is a protest against the non-payment of their salaries for over four months, non-payment of their housing allowances since January 2006 and the failure of your management to pay 2005 furniture allowances to almost all the workers. To then proceed to use armed policemen against them is stretching the limits of tolerance.
�The NLC had thought that management’s attention would be focused on finding viable solutions to myriad of problems confronting NITEL. So you can imagine our shock to find out that the NITEL management was rather busy organising and instigating armed policemen to swoop on unarmed workers.
�More baffling is the laughable charge of attempted arson that has been hung round the necks of the NITEL staff including the Chairman of the National Association of Telecommunication Employees (NATE), Mr. Charles Amankwe.
�Sir, at the Maitama police station, Abuja where the four NITEL staff were dumped in a cell with suspected armed robbers and murderers, the NLC delegation spoke to your management team made up of Elder Wash Nwachukwu and Bab el-Nafaty both of Corporate Headquarters and O. Okaejiofor Esq. of the central zone. We asked that the false complaints and charges against the NITEL workers be dropped. But they seemed to need higher NITEL authorisation to do so.
�Sir, this entire affair becomes less elegant when the drama of arrest and intimidation of NITEL staff was in the first place, enacted in your distinguished presence, before your own eyes.
�We do not think that the NITEL management should allow matters to degenerate to this sorry level. This is more so when NITEL staff has always demonstrated discipline, maturity, civility, dedication and a peaceful disposition inspite of long periods of non payment of salaries and allowance.� The letter read.
Furthermore, following the arrests, the striking workers yesterday warned that any attempt to intimidate them will worsen the crisis in the company.
Consequently, the association has threatened to report to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission the refusal of some private telecom operators (PTO) to pay the over N6.5 billion debts they (PTO) are owning NITEL within one week and promising to publish the names of the PTO’s in the media if they fail to pay up their debts.
Jun162006