JOS :

On Wednesday 14th March 2012, the MTN Call Centre in Rayfield, Jos was besieged by a crowd of individuals who purported to be officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC). Their stated mission was to protest the conditions of service of the staff in the centre and the alleged resistance to unionization of staff.

In furtherance of their objectives, the NLC came with placards and effectively barricaded the building and prevented staff from entering their offices.

It is pertinent to note that the MTN Call Centre in Jos is operated by CNSSL, a Nigerian company under an outsourcing arrangement with MTN.

The staff in the call centre are therefore not employed by MTN.

CNSSL provides skilled employment for Nigerians under terms that far exceed the national minimum wage requirements and comparable with prevailing conditions for graduate employees in many areas of the private sector. Our vision is to increase our capacity to do so.

The action by the NLC this morning disrupted the activities of the call centre and jeopardized our ability to attend to the teeming MTN customers under our care. Such incidents not only undermines our ability to fulfill our contractual obligations to MTN, it is a disincentive to investors who wish to provide employment opportunities for the youth in the Jos area which is experiencing great social upheaval.

Indeed, CNSSL staff of the call centre, none of whom have any issue with their employment conditions, robustly resisted the barricade erected by the NLC this morning in an attempt to enter their place of work. A breakdown of law and order was narrowly averted.

We are engaging the leadership of the NLC and the relevant security agencies in order to avoid a re-occurrence of the unfortunate and unwarranted action that took place today.

I can not seems to understand this, Does it mean that MTN is not solely responsible for what happens to its employee and their warfare.. Everything is just so shifted to the so called CNSSL.. Are these staffs not MTN staffs.. Its all wrong MTN stop trying to cover up by passing the blame to CNSSL.. Accept responsibility and fix the issue..

I can not seems to understand this, Does it mean that MTN is not solely responsible for what happens to its employee and their warfare.. Everything is just so shifted to the so called CNSSL.. Are these staffs not MTN staffs.. Its all wrong MTN stop trying to cover up by passing the blame to CNSSL.. Accept responsibility and fix the issue..

I dont get it,whats d need for d protest if d members of staff dont have issues with their employment condition?Nigerian workers love suffering and smiling sha...d fear of losing the Job!

"...Jos area which is experiencing great social upheaval." This sounds like doing a favour to the people of Jos and it's a statement that Sounds derogatory cos you guys are not doing a humanitarian job but rather making a profit. If I'll suggest to MTN to whom you have a contract with, Your services should be reviewed or get the contract terminated. "They are not complaining" as you said but I tell you, that's as a result of the unemployment situation in Nigeria and don't take that as foolishness. If their counterparts are paid higher salaries, why not them? We stand here in Jos with the NLC that MTN make that CNSSL pay these guys like others in other states or we'll protest more... With the upheaval you mention being experienced in Jos, they risk their lives to serve you and you give them penny at the end of the day and you term it like some favour...You guys need to work on your services to them please

lemme explain wats goin on.cnssl was given the contract to recruit staffs which they did..mtn gives dem 180,000 for each staff monthly and guess hw much cnssl pays each staff...........35,000.most of the workers have their second degrees.its jst so annoyin and unfair.i guess thats y they had to go to nlc to complain.

That statement na Initial Official Shakara. Stereotyped!
Atimes we throw away our hat of corporate supposed-be and shine our eyes to see realities.
They did the same thing when Zain/Bharti Airtel staffs were protesting in Abuja. Eventually, same CNSSL bowed to pressure.
Jos was having the so-called upheaval when they came to set-up. The MTN office they're co-locating with in Jos is strategic for them so they need Jos more than Jos needs them.
They had base in Kano and Kaduna even before Jos so they could have ignored the 'social upheaval town' then.

God help us dis contract jobs and its menace is becoming unbearable

Occupy MTN, CNSSL i gathered belongs to one of the big shots in MTN (the yellow man); cant really place his names now (Dozie or something), The fraud that is contract service should be stopped.

The state of our natiion is going bad day by day, this contract job is everywhere, even in banking and oil sector. But the onus lies on NLC and the govt to make things rights.I can't see the reason while NLC/govt permit bad contract agreement.Naija we need to wake up and do something.

tonibraimoh: lemme explain wats goin on.cnssl was given the contract to recruit staffs which they did..mtn gives dem 180,000 for each staff monthly and guess hw much cnssl pays each staff...........35,000.most of the workers have their second degrees.its jst so annoyin and unfair.i guess thats y they had to go to nlc to complain.

Hmmm. Cncl or whatever they are called,seems they are very greedy. I doubt if MTN pays 180k per contract call centre staff though but its likely gonna b greater than 100k not the 35k they are being paid. The permanent staff if there are any at the call centre could earn up to 180k. I can't believe the stupid coy is hiding under the impression of doing the locals a favour. Greedy people.

And if the staff have contract with cncl, then they are not mtn staff. that is, they won't get staff incentives or bonus. Outsourcing is very common overseas as well. e.g when I call Barclays card services, the calls are rerouted to an outsourcing firm in far away India(cheap labour).

gulfer: Occupy MTN, CNSSL i gathered belongs to one of the big shots in MTN (the yellow man); cant really place his names now (Dozie or something), The fraud that is contract service should be stopped.

Na so Naija people like to dey tell lies... The company is owned by Engr Adebayo and it says so on their website - http://www.cnsslccl.net/?p=about. Until you have facts to prove it stop telling lies!

Outsourcing is a general practice, but I always thought contract staff should be paid better than regular staff, since they do not have benefits such as housing, health, etc. We need to confirm how much MTN gives them. Is it really 180,000? I doubt it.

Anybody who works in the Jos Call centre should place a post and confirm/deny these rumours.

The truth is the NLC has nothing on MTN. . .

I am a victim of a similar situation. . Most of my colleagues are as well.

This method of recruitment is the new trick being used by many companies to avoid being liable for their employees. SO just becuase you work in an MTN office dosent mean you are an employee of MTN and thus your services can be terminated without reason with a months pay if you are lucky.

The problem is the fact that the Nigerian government is confused. They create a tough working environment for these companies, charge them insane amounts in Taxes, levies and co. . . Then turn around and expect these companies to employ their citizens, pay them well, give them insurances, pension and do all these while providing whatever service they offer at cheap prices. . HOW?!


I'm sorry, I dont blame MTN. . Many companies are doing the exact same thing right now. . MY actual pay is close to 1million Naira per month and my contractor barely pays me up to half of the actual sum a month. My colleague is on a contract worth 1.8million naira per month. . His contractor only pays him 800,000 Naira per month. . Is that fair?! Can you blame the parent company for not recruiting him directly?! Or the government that has made it hard for these companies that they have to outsource their recruitment and personnel management to other companies who are more often than none greedy.


I do hate this country atimes. . .

My friend works in this call centre and actually relocated from Lagos to Jos to be paid peanuts.
this is so disheartening and i really feel the plight of these guys.#ENDCONTRACTSTAFFING

i agree[img]http://2.s07.flagcounter.com/count/DymW/bg=E6E6E5/txt=E6E6E5/border=E6E6E5/columns=1/maxflags=1/viewers=3/labels=0/[/img]
[img]http://s07.flagcounter.com/count/DymW/bg=E6E6E5/txt=E6E6E5/border=E6E6E5/columns=1/maxflags=1/viewers=3/labels=0/[/img]

titus3:

Na so Naija people like to dey tell lies... The company is owned by Engr Adebayo and it says so on their website - http://www.cnsslccl.net/?p=about. Until you have facts to prove it stop telling lies!

Outsourcing is a general practice, but I always thought contract staff should be paid better than regular staff, since they do not have benefits such as housing, health, etc. We need to confirm how much MTN gives them. Is it really 180,000? I doubt it.

Anybody who works in the Jos Call centre should place a post and confirm/deny these rumours.

got someone close to me dt works there and i get daily update about the operations and affairs of the working conditions over there..trust me its crazy. CNSSL, are just liars. why would u protest against NLC, when they have come to help improve ur working condition (dts if they don't compromise too) after u got to know that ur employers have been reaping u off over 200% of what u re suppose to earn. how shameless this guys are and they still ve mouth to talk? the staffs are at home, happy & praying something good comes out of this & are not even ready to resume work until something goods work out.

CNSSL..u need not lie & make things worse for urself, if not for the country we are, if the appropriate authorities step up to u, u would cease to exist as a company & many who even forget u ever existed, why not look into this for ur own best interest and put tins right, ur operation will continue & u'll still continue to make ur profit and stop being bunch of cheats without human feeling.
Pls all, look at the pictures below, the staffs u see in there, do they look like they are protesting against NLC ..its unfair why even we Nigerians treat ourselves this way, so how do we expect foreigners to do too us..men are already preparing money to take to the grave cos..i wonder what happens to all the funds u siphon when you die?

tonibraimoh: lemme explain wats goin on.cnssl was given the contract to recruit staffs which they did..mtn gives dem 180,000 for each staff monthly and guess hw much cnssl pays each staff...........35,000.most of the workers have their second degrees.its jst so annoyin and unfair.i guess thats y they had to go to nlc to complain.

Yeah it is obvious that justice shd have its course and m of the opinion that their salaries r too meagre and should be stepped up but then, it is very wrong for us to come here and be telling lies. who told u MTN gives them N180,000?? That's just a mere speculation and a wrong one at that! Where are u gettin ur facts from?
And also, the guy that said CNSSL is owned by an MTN Staff is so wrong.
Let us face the issues at hand instead of brewing lies!

nezzflp:

Yeah it is obvious that justice shd have its course and m of the opinion that their salaries r too meagre and should be stepped up but then, it is very wrong for us to come here and be telling lies. who told u MTN gives them N180,000?? That's just a mere speculation and a wrong one at that! Where are u gettin ur facts from?
And also, the guy that said CNSSL is owned by an MTN Staff is so wrong.
Let us face the issues at hand instead of brewing lies!

i agree that no matter what, we should not put lies to push our points..but hey who is the king of liars..CSNNL, they started the lies..just pray something should be done & this should not be swept under the carpets..

CNSSL failed to address the pertinent question - are they underpaying the staff compared to people engaged in similar work in other locations like Abuja and Lagos? If people in other locations get paid more because of higher living costs, how much is the base pay and how much is paid as location allowance?

The debate was never about exceeding minimum wage, so why bring it up?

Outsourcing is fortunately/unfortunately (depending on where you lie) a way for firms to reduce costs and liabilities for employees.

If it is true that the employees are not 'complaining' as CNSSL says, then NLC should not interfere in the employer-employee relationship, unless some labour laws are being broken.

debosky: If it is true that the employees are not 'complaining' as CNSSL says, then NLC should not interfere in the employer-employee relationship, unless some labour laws are being broken.

yea the staffs are complaining bitterly, just because of the situation in Nigeria ('they say we dont ve choice' so they say), even on the day of the visit of NLC to the company, the staffs were excited & even joined in the chanting against the company authorities, that lie of staffs protesting against NLC is just 'the joke of the day'..

CNSSL is diversionary in her statement. The issue concerning the wages of her staff has not been addressed. People are desperate for jobs and they can be easily exploited by their employers. The fact that the employees are not complaining does not mean that what the employer is doing is right. Nigerians love to earn a living by exploiting others as middlemen. If they are exploiting the employees, I support the action of the labour union. Let's learn to be our brothers keeper.

Don't we have laws against this sort of thing? Rather than protecting the economy and nigerian jobs, the useless politicians will go stuffing their bags with money as if they intend to breathe the thing! Then when they've destroyed the country to make money, they run abroad and end up the cancer.

MTN should not be allowed to get away with this nonsense back door casualiztion.

update on the whole dialogue as it is goin..
NLC is pushing for 120k as new salary review, while plateau state govt as stepped in too & are pushing for 94k (or they should leave the state) but still CNSSL say they can only pay 53k (all still in dialogue, cos last meeting ended in deadlock)

it'll be good to make it clearer that even in that same facility, there are MTN original staffs (i.e employees directly under the payroll of MTN & not CNSSL, (they occupy the top floor in the building), they also have joined the strike in solidarity to their counterparts.

It is also said that rep will take issue to national assembly tomorrow (don't know how true this is & hope they take it serious too) and also EFCC as been invited to probe the CEO of CNSSL with strong documents on the table of plateau state govt..

The question is why wait to be exposed & disgraced before u do what is right?

ANY LINK WHERE ONE CAN APPLY ?? THANKS