Posted by By Simon Ebegbulem on
BENIN - THE National Association of Telecommunication Employees (NATE),says it is not opposed to the decision of the Federal Government to....
BENIN - THE National Association of Telecommunication Employees (NATE),says it is not opposed to the decision of the Federal Government to privatise NITEL as long as the transactions are done transparently. It however demanded that the staff of the association should be paid their salaries for a minimum of ten years,which it specified must be calculated on emolument and not pensions.
The association reiterated its support for the privatisation programme of the Federal Government, but however asserted that it would not be done at the detriment of the workers.
Addressing members of the Association in Benin City yesterday, at the inauguration of the Edo state chapter of NATE, the National President of the Association, Comrade Charles Amankwe asserted that 'the reason why we are insisting on every body being paid up is that our management has brought up a table to show that seven thousand and twenty people will be asked to go and the number of people to remain will be three thousand three hundred and twenty four. If this happens" he said 'the remaining three thousand three hundred and twenty nine that may continue Charles may happen to be one of them, which is very possible , if after two months the new buyers says we do not want your face please leave. And you ask your self, I have worked for twenty years please can you give me what is due to me for the past twenty years and they say we have have not known you for twenty years but for only two months".
'And that is why we are insisting that we do not want any body to be left out. Our stand is that we want NITEL sold but transparently. We are not interested on who is buying NITEL, we want it to be sold but it must be transparent. We want all our staff to be paid off. We are rejecting the five years that government is taunting us with especially when the five years is on pension.