Port Workers Strike Traps Cargoes In Lagos

Port workers under the umbrella of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) shut down operations on Monday over poor remuneration of its members by Shipping companies.

According to Tribune Online, port workers protested the inadequate pay on Monday, barring port users at Maersk Line offices, Five Star Logistics and other Shipping Companies in Lagos from accessing the ports.

The protest against the Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN) the parent body of all foreign shipping lines in Nigeria is due to the association's failure to follow the directives of the Federal Government and improve workers in the last six years.

The union threatened that its three branches,  Dockworkers, Seafarers and NPA, would join the strike in solidarity, making the action total.

Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, the President-General of MWUN, stated that the port economic regulator; the Nigerian Shippers Council, has lost its control and regulatory powers over shipping companies that have refused to obey the federal government's interventions in the issue.

He noted that the issue has persisted for six years., adding that the shipping companies have refused to execute a minimum standard for shipping company workers.

d “Several ultimatums have been issued to the shipping companies. The union is requesting a minimum standard for shipping workers.

“The former Minister of Transportation, Eng Muazu Jaji Sambo had directed the Nigerian Shippers Council to midwife the process between MWUN and the Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN)

“There has been meeting upon meeting at the instance of the Executive Secretary of the Shippers Council, but the attitude of the shipping companies is nothing to write home about.

“Yesterday, they were at the meeting and it did not go well. This is an embarrassment to us and even the Ministry of Transportation who initiated the idea.

“As it is, the remuneration in the Shipping sector is like a death sentence. The SAN are running away from their responsibility," he said.