"Sack of 145 TVC workers is national embarrassment"

Labour leaders on Saturday described the sack of 145 workers by Continental Broadcast Services Ltd (CBS) as a national embarrassment.


CBS is the owner of Television Continental (TVC) and Radio Continental.

Labour leaders who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Lagos condemned the mass lay-off.

Mr Deji Elumoye, Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Lagos State, said the sack was unnecessary and embarrassing to the nation.

According to Elumoye, the sack is uncalled for especially at a time when media houses, including TVC, are under-staffed.

"In most media houses, journalists are overworked. One person covers two to three beats and now they have been sacked. It is unacceptable”, he said.

The NUJ chairman said CBS had the right to hire and fire but should have endeavoured to pay workers their entitlements before issuing the sack letters.

He said the sack was a wrong way to celebrate the organisation’s 10 years anniversary achieved by the workers.

Mr Bobboi Kaigama, President, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), also condemned the sack, assuring that the organised labour would look into it soon.

"The leaders of the NLC and TUC are in Geneva for the International Labour Organisation conference. We will take action on it when we return”, Kaigama said.

Also, TUC Secretary General, Mr Musa Lawal, told NAN that the number of workers sacked was unacceptable because it would increase the level of poverty already suffered by the people.

Lawal said that it was not proper for the private sector employer to sack that number of workers at once over little economic shakeup while expatriates are retained and paid in hard currency.