In its quest to improve the livelihood of dock workers, the President General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) Comrade Adewale Adeyanju has said that the union has started the process of opening a trust fund for her members as a way of encouraging and supporting the dock workers when need arises.
Speaking recently during the briefing of Districts and Units executives of the Dockworkers branch of the union about sundry issues in the union and in the ports, the President General, said having the trust fund will be of great benefits to the dock workers, even as he informed that the seafarers arm of the union already has that in place.
According to him, “If we have a trust fund for the dock workers all over Nigerian seaports, by now we would have been ahead, but today I want to lay a foundation for the dockworker trust fund and it’s going to be managed by the dock workers’ executives and that of the National, and these trust fund if all of us agreed with me today, we can start. Imagine if we are putting in N1000 daily, multiplied by the numbers of the dock workers we have in Nigerian seaports, multiplied by numbers of day and numbers of years, you will agree with me that is a lot of millions.
“And for that trust fund, if anybody has a challenge which we don’t pray for, you can come and take out of the trust funds, I have discussed this matter with the dock workers’ president and I believe this is the time for us to have it, we are going to involve a very good bank that will manage that fund for the dockers”, he stated.
Adeyanju urged the dock workers and their executives to agree on the particular amount that would suit the dock workers.
“As I am talking to you, the seafarers have their own trust fund, but I believe the dock workers should have their own too. We need to set up a technical committee that will also manage it for the dock workers”, he said.
`The union also used the opportunity to inform dock workers that the payment of severance benefits for the tally clerks and onboard security men has been approved, but due to the procedures of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) the money is yet to be disbursed, the union informed that the severance benefits is over a billion naira, and there are procedures before such a money can be withdrawn.
The MWUN PG however, lampooned some members of the union who went to meet the Commissioner of Police for permission to carry placards for the payment. They urged the members to put their minds to rest as the money will soon be paid.
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