We will not stop picketing MTN offices until…, vows NLC

We will not stop picketing MTN offices until…, vows NLC

MTN Nigeria

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said it would continue to picket MTN offices nationwide until the telecom giant begins to respect the rights of workers under its employ.

On Tuesday NLC chased workers out of MTN Call Centre, Ojota, Lagos, in continuation of its picketing of the multinational company over alleged unfair labour practices.

NLC members led by the President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, arrived at the centre disrupted operations at the centre on the second day of the picketing. The congress started picketing the company’s offices across states on Monday. It has shut down MTN offices in different parts of the country including Maiduguri, Abuja and Lagos.

Addressing MTN workers at Tuesday’s picketing, Wabba vowed that NLC would not relent until the company respected workers’ rights.

There has been cases of continuous casualisation of workers and sundry ill-treatment of its Nigerian staff including non-unionisation of workers. Many of its workers were said to have been denied basic rights and welfare due to workers because they were not hired as full staff but as contract staff.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NLC is picketing MTN Nigeria over alleged casualisation and non unionisation of workers.

Wabba said that the congress would ensure that MTN Nigeria adhered to labour rules and provided improved work condition for its workers.

He noted that NLC members disrupted the company’s operations on Monday when it began to picket the multinational company.

”We removed the wire used in barricading the gate of the office (headquarters), and NLC members went in and chased workers out,” he said.

The NLC president said that the congress also chased workers out at the call centre in Ojota to ensure success of the picketing.

He alleged that MTN did not treat Nigerian workers well compared to treatment given to its workers in other African countries.

Mr Tobechukwu Okigbo, MTN’s Corporate Affairs Executive, however, denied the allegations on Monday. ( NAN)