By Bisola Adeyemo
Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff of Nigeria (PTECSSAN) has agreed to postpone planned industrial action against Huawei Technologies.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by the General Secretary of
(PTECSSAN),Comrade Okonu Abdullahi.
According to the union, the decision was taken after the intervention of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Dr. Isa Ali Pantami.
The Minister at the meeting insisted that the Unionisation of workers must not be neglected by any employer, especially, when it is legislated.
Part of the statement stated that Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited Management has totally agreed to mutually resolve all the issues and concerns raised by (PTECSSAN)
Furthermore, Abdullah disclosed that as part of the measure to resolve the issues raised, a committee comprising two representatives each from (PTECSSAN)and the Management and representatives from both the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the National Communications Commission has been set up and saddled with the responsibility of looking for ways to resolve all the contending issues.
Recently, daily times learnt that (PTECSSAN) issued a 14-day ultimatum to Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited over what it described as disregard and denial of the workers fundamental right to freedom of association as enshrined in section 40 of the 1999 constitution.
“All our efforts in the past to address all the labour related issues confronting the workers in the company have been rebuffed by its management. Ultimate of which is gross disregard and denial of the workers their fundamental Right to Freedom of Association as enshrined in Section 40 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as well as Section 12(4) of the Trade Unions Act LFN 2004 and International Labour Organisation Conventions 87 and 98,” he stated.
He further explained that there would be consequences to industrial peace within the company if the demands of the union are not met within 14 days. He lamented that it has become the culture of the company to make workers perform their duties under duress, adding that workers are intimidated, harassed, and even threatened with a sack at every slight opportunity