Dockworkers’ engagement: IOCs begin compliance- MWUN

The President General, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) Comrade Adewale Adeyanju on Tuesday disclosed that some International Oil Companies (IOCs) have started complying with their demands by allowing Nigerian Stevedoring Companies access to their platforms for them to engage dockworkers as required by the law.

MWUN has been having a running battle with the IOCs for years over the IOCs refusal to comply with the government Marine Notice 106, mandating the IOCs and others to allow the Stevedoring Companies and registered dockworkers access to their platforms to commence operations.

Subsequently, the union had threatened total shutdown of ports operations across the country at the expiration of two weeks strike notice ultimatum issued on February 14, 2022.

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, had on March 3, written to the Minister of Transportation intimating him among others that NLC would bring its full weight to support MWUN should it go on strike over the IOCs refusal to comply with the Marine Notice 106.

But speaking with journalists at the union’s secretariat in Lagos, Adeyanju said the MWUN recently signed a communique with the IOCs and some of them including Total, Shell and Chevron have commenced implementation.

He, however, warned those yet to comply or begin the process of compliance to immediately comply to avoid the wrath of organized labour.

He said, “We have signed a communiqué with the IOC and OPTS. We gave them two weeks for implementation and the implementation has commenced by the IOCs because the two weeks expired Tuesday, March 15, 2022, but we backdated it for implementation. We are still going to reconvene another meeting. We have to know those companies that have complied and the ones that are still playing pranks.

“But as we speak, about 60-70 percent of the IOC’S have started complying, we are now signing contract agreements here and there.”

On what would happen if the IOCs failed to sustain the agreement in the long term, Adeyanju said, “We only suspended the strike, we can review it anytime because we know some of the companies are very funny and stubborn.”