Now workers strike in Airtel also

There is a misconception among the public in general and to a certain extent among ourselves also, that strikes, dharnas etc will be done only by Government or PSU sector employees and in private sector these have no place and the consumers of private sectors will be happily enjoying uninterrupted service. That such kind of beliefs are false has been proved by the workers of Airtel at their Abuja branch. Workers will always unite and rise to fight injustice, they will fight for their legitimate rights. Nobody must forget that. Now read what happened at Airtel, Abuja . There also one National Union leader came to the help of the striking employees.

Airtel employees halt work in Abuja
TT Correspondent |  |  10 Jun 2011
The Airtel employees in Abuja stayed away from the work alleging the company has not paid their May salary. The other issues that they are raising are-restoration of National Health Insurance Scheme, downward review of working hours, review of status of pregnant women, and unfavorable annual leave schme. The staff members, numbering about 100, have vowed not to return to work unless the May salary owed them by the organisation was paid. On Thursday morning, the aggrieved workers locked the entrance gate of the Abuja branch office demanding, among other things, the restoration of their National Health Insurance Scheme; downward review of working hours; review of the status of pregnant women and unfavourable annual leave policy. The workers, who conducted their protest in an orderly manner, were closely monitored but uninterrupted by armed police personnel.  However after about four hours of discussion between the management of the Abuja office and about 10 representatives of the workers, Sunday Al-Hassan, President of the National Union of Postal and Telecommunication Employees (NUPTE) addressed the restless workers on the outcome of the meeting. Media reports quoted Rajan Swaroop, chief executive officer of Airtel, saying that “ June 9, 2011, employees at the Call Centre in Asokoro, Abuja, run by one of our service providers, Spanco Nigeria Limited protested a dispute between them and their employer.” He said Spanco Nigeria Limited has been providing Call Centre Services to Airtel customers in Nigeria. “The Management of Airtel wishes to assure Nigerians that today’s incident would not affect the integrity of the network or the quality of service delivery to customers in Abuja area. While respecting the contractual relationship between Spanco and its employees,.”