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Dockworkers may down tools over unpaid wages

By Yetunde Ebosele
06 July 2015   |   11:48 pm
DOCKWORKERS in the nation’s maritime industry have threatened to down tools over alleged months of unpaid salaries by a stevedoring company. Specifically, the workers under the agies of dockworker arm of Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, maintained that they are ready to cripple operations in the nation’s seaports over months of unpaid salaries by…
Dock

Dock

DOCKWORKERS in the nation’s maritime industry have threatened to down tools over alleged months of unpaid salaries by a stevedoring company.
Specifically, the workers under the agies of dockworker arm of Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, maintained that they are ready to cripple operations in the nation’s seaports over months of unpaid salaries by one of the onshore Stevedoring companies.

President of the dockworkers, Adewale Adeyanju, who disclosed this while addressing workers of the Stevedoring company, Mukap Synergy who stormed his office to protest the unpaid wages, alleged that since the firm took over operations from Agwut International Limited in October 2014, it had not paid the Dockworkers.

According to him, Agwut had between October and April this year, paid the workers, but had stopped paying since April because the payment was supposed to be a stop gap measure to enable Mukap settle down in line with an agreement reached.

However, unnamed top management of Mukap Synergy was said to have explained the company’s inability to pay was because the principal had not paid the company.

According to the management staff that craved anonymity, “once the principal pays, the workers will be paid. The workers should have found out from us why we have not paid. The truth is that we have not been paid by our principal.”

Appealing to the protesting workers, Adeyanju urged them not to take laws into their hands, while assuring them that the union would take up the matter and if possible declare industrial action to ensure that the workers are paid.

“An injury to one is an injury to all. If this continues, we will shut ports operations to draw the attention of the authorities to the plight of our members, “ Adeyanju said.

Giving his company’s position, Agwut International’s Operations Manger, Mr. Muhammad Ibrahim, explained that Agwut borrowed money from the bank to pay the workers hoping that it would be refunded in line with the agreement when Mukap Synergy took over the operation from it, but lamented that so far, nothing of such had happened.

He said, “the payment of the workers’ salaries by Agwut was supposed to be a stop gap measure to enable Mukap settle down. We have been paying since October last year and by April this year; we decided to stop because we could no longer carry the burden. The bank is on our neck. We have not been refunded as agreed.”

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