Maritime workers threaten nationwide strike

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria has threatened to commence a nationwide strike on Tuesday, January 9, disrupting operations at seaports, jetties, and oil and gas installations throughout the country.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the union’s head of media, John Ikemefuna, revealed the decision on behalf of the President General, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju.

The imminent strike is the result of International Oil Companies and Stevedoring Contractors’ repeated failure to follow existing Stevedoring legislation that protect the union’s rights.

According to the statement, the union gave the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) three days’ notice beginning Thursday before contemplating a strike as an unavoidable alternative.

The union expressed its displeasure by highlighting IOCs’ continued non-compliance with existing stevedoring requirements since 2018.

Furthermore, it emphasized IOCs’ continued failure to remit Union check-off dues, despite multiple unsuccessful attempts to address these concerns with the NPA.

“Recall that the Union had written a series of letters, press releases, ultimatums, and marine notices given by NIMASA and several ministerial orders; all these were serially ignored by the management of the NPA,” the statement added.

The union urged that IOCs fully comply with stevedoring regulations in accordance with communiqués signed by important parties in the sector. It chastised the NPA for allowing IOCs to operate freely, abdicating its regulatory responsibilities.

“As a responsible social partner and a union that operates strictly in line with extant regulations, MWUN has since 2018 severally brought to the NPA’s attention the refusal of the IOCs to honour the provisions of the extant stevedoring regulations and the continued violation of the remittance of union check-off dues in line with the extant stevedoring regulations.

“As a bridge of the extant stevedoring laws stated, the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria will shut down the seaports nationwide on Tuesday, 9th, 2024, after the expiration of the three workdays already given to NPA commencing on January 4th, 2024,” it said.