MTEL employees strike over non-payment of salaries, benefits

Striking employees of Mobile Telecommunications (MTEL), a subsidiary of Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL), appealed to Minister of Information and Communications John Ogar Odey last weekend, saying they will not rest until their October and November salaries and annual leave allowances are paid in full.

The minister promised to pass the employees' demands on to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, whose office supervises the privatization of companies in Nigeria. Odey also promised to mount pressure on MTEL's majority stakeholder, Transnational Corporation, according to Chidi Oparauwakwem, who represents MTEL as deputy president of the Senior Staff Association of Communications, Transport and Corporations.

The employees expect a response from the government by the end of the week, after the two-day Shallah holidays, Oparauwakwem said. If a solution is not reached at that time, MTEL may invite NITEL to join in the strike, he added.

NITEL management, however, could not be reached for comment.

MTEL's union has met with the management of Transcorp, Oparauwakwem said, but the parent company has claimed that it is financially incapacitated and will remain so unless revenue is generated by the SAT-3 submarine cable system.

Due to its financial troubles, the government has been seeking a new core investor for NITEL, and the Nigeria Bureau of Public Enterprises has set a February deadline for the company's sale.