Millions to face service outages as 800 telecom workers begin strike

The Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association (PTCSSA) has warned millions of subscribers to expect a massive communication shutdown in the sector after 800 workers embarked on strike on Monday.

Union Secretary-General, Okonu Abdullahi, told The PUNCH that the strike would continue until telecom companies address the union’s demands, which include the reinstatement of sacked workers, union recognition, improved working conditions, and remittance of membership dues.

“The strike has become inevitable because of the prevalent precarious working conditions our members are enduring in the sector, the refusal of the employers to recognize and respect the constitutional right of these workers to freely associate with the union, and the unjust sack of three members of the union,” the union stated in its seven-day strike notice.

The union added that it has given the telecom companies ample time to meet their demands but reported that their grievances have been ignored.
The union added, “The implications of the strike will be massive because we have told all our members not to respond to any service outage from our employers. The fact remains that there are outages every day, and if our engineers do not respond to those outages, subscribers in those areas will be affected.”

He added that members of the union include field maintenance engineers, transmission engineers, customer service engineers, fibre engineers, and other critical staff working for telecom service companies.

The companies affected include Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited, Tylium Nigeria Limited, Specific Tools & Techniques, CPNL (Chinese Pacific Networks Limited), CITCC (China International Telecommunications Construction Corporation), and JUSPARTNER.