From Blessing Ibunge, Port Harcourt
The Association of Maritime Workers Union at the weekend protested the non-payment of its workers benefits by INTELS Nigeria Ltd.
During the protest organised by the group at the Integrated Logistic Services (INTELS) in Onne Rivers State, they appealed to the federal government, state government, Nigerian Port Authority, NIMASA Director-General to come into the non-payment issue.
Chairman Senior Staff Maritime Workers Union, INTELS/AMS Branch, Mr Sunday Atakpo, said that 633 out of 700 members of their union working for Integrated Logistic Services in Nigeria were placed on redundancy without payment of their benefits.
He stated that the members who have worked for 23 years with AMS under INTELS were placed on redundancy without following the condition of service.
“We were told that Intels don’t know AMS but our applications, interview employment, queries, suspensions and terminations are done here by INTELS
“We are appealing to the federal government, our state government, Nigeria Port Authority, NIMASA Director-General to come to our aid and urge INTELS management to pay us our benefits because a labourer have wage.
“We are not saying we will not go as they have terminated us, many of us are even ready for voluntary redundancy but what we are saying is that they should pay us our benefits just as they paid our counterparts in Intels,” he said.
Similarly, Mr Tunde Bolaji, the Chairman of Junior Staff of INTELS Association of Maritime Services also told Journalists that the workers were protesting because 90 per cent of them placed on redundancy without benefits have served for 10 years.
Bolaji said that the company’s system of calling back workers after redundancy is contrary to Labour law.
