The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) yesterday ensured a nationwide shutdown of the nation’s seaports port following the kick-off of a national strike action by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in the bid to press home its demand for review of minimum wage for workers.
In a chat with Shipping Position Daily at his office in Apapa yesterday, President General of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju noted that the strike action was total, cutting across all Nigerian ports including Lagos, Port Harcourt, Warri, Onne and Calabar.
While responding to allegations that some terminal operators like Dangote Group were clandestinely still carrying out operations despite the strike, the MWUN PG debunked the insinuation saying g that the only considerations for terminals were those handling perishable food items, chemicals and reefer containers.
Speaking he said "The strike action is total and it is taking place simultaneously at all ports in the country"
"Dangote are not working, this morning I heard the information as well but I shut it down, I am going down to Apapa Now, am going round to carry out inspection"
"However there are some chemical containers, reefer containers, you cannot shut them all down, the fish that we are all eating also pass through containers, and we cannot shut them down because they are perishable"
"Other than this, the strike is total, Port Harcourt, Onne Port, Calabar and everywhere is shut down"
Adeyanju charged the federal government to do the needful, saying that the implication of the strike action would be damaging on the already stressed Nigerian economy.
"Government knows the implication the strike action would have, it is going to affect the economy, and all of us are praying for the growth of this country, how much is the minimum wage we are talking about today? It is long overdue, they should have done the needful, even some states have not paid workers for 36 months and they want to re-contest election"
"The Paris club refund given to the states by the President should have been used to pay the workers, the responsible states are doing that while some are not even ready, they only want to use the money for their political selfishness"
Speaking on the wages and living condition of Nigerian dockworkers and seafarers under the union, Adeyanju said the union is taking steps to ensure that their salaries and welfare packages are renewed every two years.
According to him, "We didn't have this, so in the past, all the dockworkers were perpetual casuals in those days, but today some of them are permanent staff, we are still operating on payment by tonnage and we are on time related wages, especially those on per unit of containers"
"We are reviewing their wages upward and very soon we will sign another agreement that has to do with NJIC collective bargaining agreement midwifed by the NIMASA DG and representative of stakeholders including NPA"
Checks carried out by Shipping Position Daily in Apapa yesterday also revealed that offices of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) were shut down; others include NPA, Banks and some shipping companies among others.
Only the Nigeria Customs Service officers were allowed entrance into the ports.
Speaking with our correspondent, Public Relations Officer of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) at Tin Can chapter, Mr. Emmanuel Onyeme said customs is ready to work but the stakeholders were not allowed entrance into the port by labour union.
"Though the customs CPC gate is open, they are also being careful to ensure that unscrupulous elements do not take advantage of the period to attack.
So there are a lot of checks and balances going on"
"Inside the terminal, the terminal operators are ready to work, but no examination of containers can be done", he said.
Discussion about this post