Nigeria’s telecommunications sector faces a potential shutdown as workers under the Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association have gone on strike.
The union, on Monday, threatened to disrupt telecom services across the country. Secretary-General Okonu Abdullahi confirmed the commencement of the strike in a statement, highlighting its widespread impact.
He revealed that over 800 members, employed at various telecom companies including IHS and Huawei, are part of the strike.
The union’s demands include the reinstatement of dismissed workers, recognition of the union, improved working conditions, and the remittance of membership dues.
“The strike has become inevitable due to the harsh working conditions our members are enduring, the refusal of employers to recognize their constitutional right to unionize, and the unfair dismissal of three union members,” Abdullahi said in a seven-day strike notice.
He warned of severe consequences: “We have instructed our members not to respond to any service outages. Outages happen daily, and without our engineers, subscribers in affected areas will experience disruptions.”
In response, Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), denied any association with the union, stating, “This group is not known to us in ALTON, and the companies mentioned are not members of ALTON.”
