By The Association of Telecommunications professionals of Nigeria (ATPN) has asked the Federal Government to halt the trend of dismissals in the telecommunication industry warning that the industry faces great danger if no action is taking to address the trend.
The ATPN said it was both shocked and worried that a booming industry which impacts significantly on Nigeria’s GDP has become a hot bed of sudden job severance. It is asking relevant authorities to help revert the recent sack of 2000 staff of Etisalat which is following on the heels of a recent sack of 3000 Nigerian employees by Airtel Nigeria.
The industry professionals believe the loss of over 2000 jobs at Etisalat is because the workers are not allowed to associate with any of the industry professional associations, denying the workers their constitutional rights to free association and expression.
In a telephone conversation with IT Edge News, Mr. Adede Williams, President of ATPN admitted that the workers affected are not members of the association, but the ATPN hands are not completely tied. He assured that the association was taking necessary steps to address the issue with going to court as an option. He advised Nigerian telecommunications employees not to be carried away by the so-called jumbo pay as that may continue to lead them into a perpetual enslavement by telecom operators, equipment vendors and telecom infrastructure service providers operating in the Nigerian industry.
“We want to put it on records that it is important to safeguard the interest of Nigerian employees in the telecom industry against the unlawful and unjustified action by the telecom operators and vendors regarding unnecessary retrenchments and downsizing,” said the ATPN president.
The professional body whose interest is to safeguard telecom professionals advised that sudden dismissal should be totally abolished and when it is inevitable, commensurate benefits should be paid to the employees affected to pave way for industrial harmony.
