The Telecom and IT Professionals Union (TIP) in Ghana has stated that it will only rescind its strike action if the National Labour Commission intervenes and address their concerns.

According to the group, threats by the management will not force them to rescind their decision and return to work.

The Telecom and IT Professionals Union (TIP), made up of telecom engineers and technicians who manage the key technical operations for the telecom operators said it took the decision to embark on the strike due to poor conditions of service.

The decision was reached after a deadlock in salary negotiations failed between the union and the management of the four sub-contractors (SBCs) Linfra Ghana Limited, MP Infrastructure Ghana Limited, Reime Ghana Limited and Reliance Personal Services who have been engaged by Hauwei Technologies Limited to maintain the technical operations of MTN, AirtelTigo and Vodafone.

Speaking on the Morning Starr on Monday, the General Secretary of the Union Israel Edem Agbegbor, said the management had resorted to threats and victimisation instead of addressing their concerns.

“As we speak, we have withdrawn all our services even though we’re essential service workers. The management is threatening our workers and we know they’ve brought in some national service personnel and expatriates to minimize the impact. We start our strike today and we’re no more interested in dealing with management. We want the National Labour Commission to step in.”

“We are asking that the system be regularised and the interest of the worker protected. This current employer is not doing that. The people we work for are making profit so how come we’re not making same? The sad part is the management keeps threatening the workers and it’s provoking them the more.

“We have tried to work on this for the past two years but there’s been no resolution. These guys were with Telcos that respected their work but the problem started when their contracts were terminated and then handed over to Huawei.”