The Ministry of Labour brokers a truce between the telecoms giant and its warring contract workers
The Ministry of Labour has ordered the management of Airtel Nigeria, a telecom service provider, to pay its protesting workers their outstanding allowances and recall all those suspended.
The order followed a resolution reached at the conciliatory meeting between the management of Airtel Networks Limited, its business partners, and the National Union of Post and Telecommunications Employees (NUPTE), with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The parties, which have been at loggerheads since the past two weeks, agreed that the issue of the outstanding fourth Quarter,2010 and the first Quarter 2011 Quarterly incentive scheme, contained in the agreement signed by the parties on July 27, 2011, “shall be implemented accordingly.”
Following protests by its workers last week, the service provider’s network operations were shut for more than 72 hours. However, both parties agree at the conciliatory meeting to “immediately” restore stability to the network.
“Airtel will mandate its business partners, i.e Spanco Channel BPO Limited and Tech Mahindra Nigeria Limited, to ensure the resumption of all staff affected by the suspension of operations not later than Thursday, October 13, 2011,” the parties also agreed.
Both parties are expected to sign a Collective Bargaining Agreement by October 28, 2011. The agreement did not mention the over 50 per cent slash in workers’ salary which was the major cause of the industrial actions at the company.
The highest paid Airtel contract staff earn N75, 000 take home per month. The company is slashing it to N30, 000, the workers complained during a protest in the premises of the company in Abuja last week.
The agreement was jointly signed by Jubril Saba for Airtel Networks Ltd,Sunday Alhassan and Taiwo Foluso for NUPTE, Digvijay Srivastava for Spanco Channels BPO Ltd while Hon. Uchenna Ekwe and Comrade Nuhu A. Toro for NLC. Others are Mukul Sah for Tech Mahindra Nig Ltd and Chinedu C. Dike on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity.
According to the agreement, no staff shall be victimised on account of any “action or omission committed during the industrial crisis.”
The parties were also at the National Assembly where they admitted that all issues in the industrial dispute have been resolved before a House of Representatives’ Committee on Communications.
The Labour and Productivity Minister, Emeka Wogu, who presided over the earlier conciliatory meeting, added that the federal government will continue to sustain the fundamental human rights of Nigerian workers including right to unionize as guaranteed in the extant labour laws.
Wogu added that the ministry will collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology and other stakeholders to set up a technical committee on regulation of outsourcing and other labour related issues in the communication sector of the economy.
The order followed a resolution reached at the conciliatory meeting between the management of Airtel Networks Limited, its business partners, and the National Union of Post and Telecommunications Employees (NUPTE), with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The parties, which have been at loggerheads since the past two weeks, agreed that the issue of the outstanding fourth Quarter,2010 and the first Quarter 2011 Quarterly incentive scheme, contained in the agreement signed by the parties on July 27, 2011, “shall be implemented accordingly.”
Following protests by its workers last week, the service provider’s network operations were shut for more than 72 hours. However, both parties agree at the conciliatory meeting to “immediately” restore stability to the network.
“Airtel will mandate its business partners, i.e Spanco Channel BPO Limited and Tech Mahindra Nigeria Limited, to ensure the resumption of all staff affected by the suspension of operations not later than Thursday, October 13, 2011,” the parties also agreed.
Both parties are expected to sign a Collective Bargaining Agreement by October 28, 2011. The agreement did not mention the over 50 per cent slash in workers’ salary which was the major cause of the industrial actions at the company.
The highest paid Airtel contract staff earn N75, 000 take home per month. The company is slashing it to N30, 000, the workers complained during a protest in the premises of the company in Abuja last week.
The agreement was jointly signed by Jubril Saba for Airtel Networks Ltd,Sunday Alhassan and Taiwo Foluso for NUPTE, Digvijay Srivastava for Spanco Channels BPO Ltd while Hon. Uchenna Ekwe and Comrade Nuhu A. Toro for NLC. Others are Mukul Sah for Tech Mahindra Nig Ltd and Chinedu C. Dike on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity.
According to the agreement, no staff shall be victimised on account of any “action or omission committed during the industrial crisis.”
The parties were also at the National Assembly where they admitted that all issues in the industrial dispute have been resolved before a House of Representatives’ Committee on Communications.
The Labour and Productivity Minister, Emeka Wogu, who presided over the earlier conciliatory meeting, added that the federal government will continue to sustain the fundamental human rights of Nigerian workers including right to unionize as guaranteed in the extant labour laws.
Wogu added that the ministry will collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology and other stakeholders to set up a technical committee on regulation of outsourcing and other labour related issues in the communication sector of the economy.
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