…parties Sheath Swords
The lingering industrial friction between the management of MTN Nigeria Communication Plc and Private Telecommunication And Communications Senior Staff Association Of Nigeria (PTECSSAN) Tuesday in Abuja breath a sigh of relief at the instance of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Dr. Chris Ngige, who also doubled as the Chief conciliator.
The meeting which was held at the conference room of the ministry was aimed at addressing the 14 days ultimatum issued MTN by PTECSSAN for standing in the way of the Association progress as it concerns Unionization.
At the end of the over eight hours meeting, Ngige announced to pressmen the agreement reached with modalities put in place to ensure a harmonious working relationship. In his words
“By this, MTN and PTECSSAN should maintain the situation they are now on.
The management structure that is being Unionized now, you continue to Unionize them without any hindrance nor intimidation.
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“Section 40 of the Nigerian constitution permits and makes room for freedom of association to the extent that we can associate and form political parties. We can also form Trade Unions, again registrable by the federal ministry of Labour and Employment and by the registrar of Trade Unions.
“We agreed that the package they have in MTN which is the voluntary and involuntary severance scheme should be maintained and that the package will also be broken into the two components.
“The exit package, for now, is a payment of your three weeks of the number of years you have served for every completed year. Therefore this is what those people will get in category A1, A2, and B1.
“In B2, if you want to exit voluntarily before the circle of disengagement in A or B1, you can exit with more packages. We have now fixed that the MTN board will give a definitive circle for B1 which B1 and A1, A2 is time for the package even though A1 is not known and A2 also doesn’t know when it will happen.
“MTN board has four weeks to bring out their offer on B1 frequency. Once that is done, you will sign your procedural agreement and move into the next stage which is the Collective Bargaining Agreement on all these other issues.
“With these resolutions today which we signed with all parties having their copies, the 14 days ultimatum is hereby withdrawn by the PTECSSAN Union. I have the authority to say that we have signed the documents and the Trade Dispute Agreement (TDA) is also dead with this. So you are now friends, you can go back and work harmoniously.”
On the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Minister has this to say
“We also have agreement on the second issue which is the resigning of the regulatory procedure which will be a precursor to the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Because it’s a precursor we need to soften the ground for a harmonious discussion and dialogue when it’s been done.” The Minister said
Speaking concerning the resolution, Comrade. Opeyemi Tomori, PTECSSAN President thanked the Minister for his prompt intervention while calling on members of his Union to henceforth disregard the 14 days ultimatum earlier issued
“Like the Minister have rightly said, on our part as a Union we are very glad about the resolution. As a result of this, the 14 ultimatum which we issued precisely on the 11th of August is hereby withdrawn.”
Also giving his support to this development, Okonu Abdulahi, General Secretary of PTECSSAN says
“I Comrade. Okonu Abdulahi, the General Secretary of Private Telecommunications And Communications Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PTECSSAN), as a result of the conciliation led by the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, we are saying that we are satisfied and as a result of our satisfaction we have withdrawn the 14 days ultimatum we issued on 11 August 2020.”
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Mrs. Esther Akinnukawe, Chief Human Resources Officer of MTN Nigeria Communication Plc assured members of the Union of the management resolve to withdraw the Trade Dispute note issued to the ministry on August 12, 2020, in response to the 14 days ultimatum issued by PTECSSAN
“I Mrs. Esther Akinnukawe, the Chief Human Resources Officer, MTN Nigeria communication plc, on behalf of my team hereby really appreciates the Honourable Minister for the conciliation process and a wonderful outcome of the conciliation process. We are satisfied with the outcome and as a result of that, we hereby withdraw the Trade Dispute note that we issued on August 12, 2020, in response to the 14 days ultimatum that was issued by PTECSSAN, it is hereby withdrawn.”
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