By Victor Ahiuma-Young
WORKERS of the troubled national carrier, Nigerian Telecommunication (NITEL) Plc, and its GSM arm, Mtel, have threatened to disrupt operations of the company over their 13 months unpaid salary arrears, lamenting that they are finding it difficult to cope with the economic situation in the country.

Under the umbrella of the Senior Staff Association of Communications, Transport and Corporations (SSACTAC), the workers decried perceived government attitudes towards the  revival and future of the NITEL, saying organised labour in the sector made representations to government on the way forward.

In a chat with Vanguard, President-General of SSACTAC, Comrade Adetunji Adesunkanmi, said: “As at today,  my members in NITEL and Mtel are being owed 13 months and 12 months respectively. You can imagine workers working for so long without getting their benefits. It is an unfortunate situation.

“We have made several representations to the Federal Government on this matter right from the time of Transcorp. But most unfortunately, it is seems this government has  no political will to take a decision and stand by that decision.

“We recall that the idea of a Technical Committee as suggested by the workers then, was bought by the Federal Government and yet they appointed members to this committee.

“Unfortunately, since June, the technical committee was just inaugurated two weeks ago because of the squabbles between the committee, National Committee on Privatisation (NCP) and the Bureau of Public Enterprises ( BPE). Yet government could not take a decision and say this is what we asked them to do. This is the problem. But now the committee has been inaugurated. We are keeping our fingers crossed and watching what would be the outcome of the thinking of the committee.”