The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), has directed its members to shut down operations of shipping companies and commence an indefinite nationwide strike from next week Monday over the lingering dispute with shipping companies concerning the poor salaries and welfare of the members.
At a briefing, Thursday, the President-General of MWUN, Prince Adewale Adeyanju, expressed sadness that since 2018, the Organised Labour had been battling with shipping companies on the minimum welfare for for maritime workers, without any success.
According to him, aside several ultimatums and interventions of the immediate-past Minister of Transportation, Muazu Sambo, the shipping companies, mainly the multinationals, refused to yield, expressing worries that the working conditions of the workers in the nation’s shipping industry were nothing short of modern-day slavery.
Among the disouted issues include the refusal of the International Oil Companies (IOCs), to comply with Marine Notice 106 and extant Stevedoring regulations, refusal to pay aged seafarers’ monthly pensions in spite of court ruling, refusal to restore registered on-board ship gangway security and Tally men (pooling system), absence of Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in the shipping sub-sector as well as the refusal to issue Seafarers Identity Focuments (SID), to seafarers.
Recall that MWUN had issued a 14-day ultimatum to the federal government and other authorities effective Monday, March 6, to address the union’s grievances, or face industrial unrest.
MWUN gave the notice to the then Ministers of Transportation, Muazu Sambo and his Labour and Employment counterpart, Sen. Chris Nwabueze Ngige, when the President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, paid a courtesy visit to the National Secretariat of MWUN, Lagos.
