- As Spanish Ports is Hit by Nation-Wide Strike
Mr Adewale Adeyanju, the President-General, Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN), has advised the new executives of dockworkers branch of the union to avoid indiscriminate work stoppage in the nation’s seaports.
Adeyanju, who gave this advice on Monday in Lagos, explained that it was only the union’s national executives, who could declare strike.
He said that the era of brigandage and illegal activities were over in the nation’s seaports.
The union leader recalled how unruly and violent dockworkers had been prior to the port concession of 2006 and acknowledged that a lot had been done to rejig the psyche of the present-day dockworkers.
The MWUN president warned that anyone caught in the web of such illegality in the ports would be dealt with, according to the union’s regulations.
Adeyanju, who is also the immediate past president of the branch for eight years said, the road is not as easy as you think, if you stop work because of money, you will see the wrath of the national executive.
“Do not put money first; If you work, money will come; there should be no making of money through illegal means,’’ he said.
Adeyanju warned the new leaders against cheating their members through the crooked method called ‘akube’.
“The era of ‘akube’ is gone, if you do that, I will deal with you. Now, you have the conditions of service,’’ Adeyanju said.
He also recalled that through the open door policy of his administration, conflicts which had the tendencies to spread, were nipped in the bud.
Adeyanju, who reviewed his achievements during his two terms, stated that Collective Bargaining Agreement, was signed with stevedoring companies, port operators and other stakeholders.
He said that the union had been able to engage reputable Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs).
“Comrades, life after retirement must be planned and organised from your active days at work.
“This is why we, as a union, keyed into the Federal Government’s plan on pension.
“Consequently, we negotiated and procured the services of a credible pension fund manager to manage the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) of our members,’’ Adeyanju said.
The executives are: Ibrahim Ohize, President; Hakeem Lawal, Vice President, Lawal Mukaila and Joseph Odemene, emerged Treasurer and Auditor respectively.
Others are: Ida Lawal and Wait Havvy, as Trustees while Bolashade Ogunjobi, emerged as the Women Representative of the branch.
The executives are to oversee the affairs of the branch for the next four years.
In the meantime, Spanish dockworker unions have launched today a nation-wide strike across the country’s ports.
According to the representatives of the Coordinadora Estatal de Trabajadores del Mar (Coordinadora), a Spanish dockworkers union, almost 100 percent of workers supported the strike.
The workers are demanding that companies keep their employees and maintain the same working-conditions after the implementation of the port-reform.
Until now, the workers were hired through local stevedoring societies known as Sociedad Anonima de Gestion de Estibadores Portuarios (SAGEP). However, the new law would enable ports to hire non-unionized dockworkers instead of the unionized ones, potentially resulting in massive layoffs.
During today’s press conference, the union representatives said that, in their opinion, the main culprit for the ongoing situation is the government that put the companies in a privileged position.
At the moment, all dockworkers have an indefinite contract with their companies. Nevertheless, under the new regime, the companies would be given a choice to decide whether to keep them as employees or not.
During the recent talks between the union and Anesco, port employers’ association, the latter could not guarantee the security of 100 percent of those jobs, which prompted the stevedores to go ahead with their strike plans for this week.
The country’s ports could suffer considerable drop in traffic as shipping companies divert their cargo elsewhere due to strikes. Port statistics show that the port of Algeciras, the busiest in Spain, experienced a drop of 5.98 per cent in traffic so far in 2017.
Last week, Danish shipping major Maersk Line said that its latest fleet addition, the 20,568 TEU Madrid Maersk, would be omitting the port of Algeciras. Instead, the cargo would be discharged in Port Tangier for further connection to Algeciras.
Reacting to the announcement, the International Dockworkers Council (IDC) asked “that all IDC members be aware of ships that may be diverted from Spain, and to not work accept these ships in their ports.”
“IDC will heed the strike advisory and will remain alert- with their full attention- in order to follow new developments of the Spanish situation. We will alert our IDC members to any future developments.
IDC will continue to support dockworkers everywhere in their struggle, and iterates their steadfast commitment to Coordinadora, who has demonstrated- yet again- strength in unity,” IDC said.
“This dispute is representative of the worldwide attack on dockers and of union busting efforts dressed up as ‘progressive reform’. Port liberalisation of this kind is short sighted and damaging and we won’t accept it. We encourage all of our affiliates to take every action within the legal framework of their country to support Spanish dockers whenever requested by our Spanish brothers and sisters,” ITF president and dockers’ section chair Paddy Crumlin said.
The latest round of strikes is planned to held on 5th, 7th and 9th of June for 12 hours. Further rounds of strikes are possible should there be a failure to reach a deal on the continuation of negotiations on the matter.
Additional report from World Maritime News
