A Dubai telecom firm voiced concerns yesterday over its investments in Tunisia’s mobile phone operator Tunisie Telecom, hit by union strikers demanding the sacking of 63 highly paid contractual employees.
Dubai Holding subsidiary Emirates International Telecommunications (EIT), which holds 35 per cent in the majority government-owned operator, said “union activity in Tunisia is potentially going to give a negative image for the country.”
“At this point in time, if potential foreign investors look to Tunisie Telecom as a case study for what it is like to invest in the country, we think that they would have a lot of questions about how secure their investment would be,” EIT chief executive officer Deepak Padmanabhan told AFP.
Employees at Tunisie Telecom have gone on strike three times since the ouster of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January, as the union of telecom workers insists on sacking the highly paid contracted employees.
Tunisie Telecom had recruited the 63 experienced workers on renewable fixed-term contracts, skirting its way around a rigid public-sector recruiting system that would not have permitted providing competitive salaries.
Picketers reportedly claim that monthly salaries of the contracted employees at managerial level were at a minimum of 4,000 dinars ($2,879), while the average salary for managers was around 1,500 dinars ($1,079).
Padmanabhan defended EIT’s position in holding on to the 63 contracted employees who occupy senior positions, saying their income was “in line with the competition.”
“They are all Tunisian nationals, and they were recruited through the proper processes and channels,” he added.
Industry sources say the union is attempting to flex its muscles and gain influence in the company now that the grip of the government has been loosened with the departure of the former autocratic president.
EIT acquired its stake in Tunisie Telecom in 2006 for $2.25 billion, becoming the largest single foreign direct investment in the country.