The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) says it will declare a state of emergency in the shipping sector if the Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN) does not meet the union’s demands.
The MWUN Deputy Secretary-General, (Organising), Mr Abudu Eroje, made this known in a statement made available in Lagos
MWUN had given a 21-day ultimatum to SAN to convey a meeting of the association of shipping employers and the union to review the industry’s condition of service.
“In the eye of recent events affecting all our members in the shipping sector in Nigeria, we are constrained to bring to public space the following:
“We have exhausted all legal and social means to get members of the Shippers Association of Nigeria to a roundtable with representatives of Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria.
“This means we had hoped that we would find redress to the very inhumane, deplorable and slavish conditions our members are subjected to in their various workplaces
‘`Having consistently ignored our myriad calls, SAN and its members have conducted themselves in a manner which perpetually keeps our members in penury and pain.
“In most cases, they have been stagnated on one salary structure for over 20 years, worst wage structure, anti – union activities, burdensome tariff regimes, etc.,” he said.
Eroje said that MWUN had reported SAN to the Nigeria Labour Congress, which directed that in the interest of industrial peace in the shipping industry in Nigeria, albeit, maritime sector, SAN should convene a meeting with representatives of the union within 21 days.
