Congestion looms in ports as maritime workers shutdown operations

Congestions within the Nigerian ports are imminent following the shutdown of ports operations by workers in the maritime subsector of the nation’s economy.

The development, about this time of the year when more cargoes are expected to arrive the nation’s ports ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays couple with lacklustre operations within the ports, may result in pile-up containers in Apapa, Tincan and other ports in the South South parts of the country.

Workers say their action is to drive home their demand for the payment of outstanding wages for tally clerks and onboard security personnel in various Nigerian ports.

The aggrieved workers, under the aegis of Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), say they are being owed nine months’ wages, vowing to ensure that nothing happens within the ports unless the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) pays the wages.

The union is equally protesting an alleged midstream discharge of vessels in Bonny Rivers, Lagos and other port formations without making use of registered dockworkers “as required by law.”

It would be recalled that the union on October 12, issued a seven-day ultimatum to the management of NPA to discontinue midstream discharge of vessels in all port formations, insisting that the job is constitutionally meant to be carried out by registered dockworkers. The ultimatum had since expired.

Emmanuel Nted, president, Maritime Workers Union, says the strike is necessitated by the failure of the NPA to accede to the union’s demand, lamenting that unpaid wages of the dockworkers have lingered for too long.

He recalls that the last agreement reached with stakeholders including NPA, and Association of Stevedoring Companies, was on July 9, 2015, at a meeting called by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, expired since July 30, without any payment to the affected workers.

According to Nted, since then, several interventions have been made by ministries of labour, transports and even the leadership of the union to NPA to pay the workers to no avail.

JOSHUA BASSEY