By Victor Ahiuma-Young
LAGOS—OPERATIONS at one of the leading Cellular Data Mobile Access, CDMA, networks in country, Multilink/Telkom were yesterday crippled by aggrieved workers in the postal and telecommunication sector led by officials of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, over alleged unfair labour practices.

Under the umbrella of National Union of Postal and Telecommunication Employees, NUPTE, in conjunction with National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Related Institutions, as well as members of civil society allies of labour, for over five hours sealed off the Adeola Odeku head office of the firm and its branch on the same street.

Displaying several placards with different inscription accusing the management of the South African company of casualisation of Nigerians and paying them peanut.

They also accused the firm of refusal to recognise the union and threatening to sack the executive of the branch union inaugurated few days ago.

They lamented that all efforts to have a peaceful industrial relation had always been frustrated by the management.

According to the aggrieved picketers  “Multilinks/Telkom maintains the largest expatriate workforce in the industry in Nigeria relative to its size.   It uses some of these expatriates in non core areas that can be easily manned by abundant Nigerian talent.  Multilinks/Telkom does not respect its workers right to join the union and negotiate their terms and conditions of work.

It runs a wicked campaign of work place terror on its staff, including a fake in-house forum in its Human Resource  department. Multilinks/Telkom continues to dismiss workers who dare to demand for respect of their rights.

Multilinks/Telkom does not remit the Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) deductions of its workers. It must tell the national pension commission and other stakeholders where it is hiding the March to September 2010 pension contributions deducted from some workers and yet to be remitted to PFA in clear breach of the provisions of the pension Act.

While pampering its large expatriate staff with a generous paid-vacation plan that keeps them permanently on overseas junkets, multilinks/telkom keeps over 90 per cent of its Nigerian professional workforce in servitude through casual/temporary appointment without promotion, career and severance plan etc.

However, after hours of meeting and deliberations, the management of the company and representatives of the worker, both parties reached an agreement that “Multi-links Telkom Management recognizes the National Union of Postal and Telkom Empolyees , NUPTE, as the bonafide union in the industry.

Consequently, the branch union of NUPTE is hereby also recognised.

That management remains willing to engage the Union on industrial relations matters.Both parties agree that no member of staff, particularly union officials will be victimized..”