Following the intervention of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) trade union organization, Nigerian Telecommunications (Nitel) workers on Wednesday suspended their nine-day strike.
The returning workers urged the federal government to immediately take over full management of Nitel from the majority parent company Transcorp, due to what they described as the declining fortunes of the national carrier.
The decision to suspend the strike action, initiated by the National Association of Telecommunications (NATE), was arrived at as a result of the intercession of the NLC leadership.
Speaking to newsmen in Abuja, NATE National President Charles Amankwe expressed concern over the retention of Transcorp as Nitel owner.
Nitel in the past generated an enormous amount of revenue, especially through the SAT-3 cable system, Amankwe said. But, he added, since Transcorp took over the management of Nitel more than 18 months ago, “it could not pay salaries to the staff.”
“We would have insisted that the strike action continue, but we are calling it off following the intervention of NLC and for the interest of the nation,” he said.
NATE, he said, in its meeting with the Senate Committee on Communications late Tuesday resolved to suspend the strike action.
