Dockworkers salary raises from N10,000 to N150,000 in 12-year of port concession
Twelve years after the port was concessioned to private operators, the seaport terminal operators have increased dockworkers salaries from N10, 000 in 2006 to N150, 000 per month
Adewale Adeyanju, president-general of the Maritime Workers Union (MWUN), said last Wednesday that private terminal operators have substantially increased the wages earned by dockworkers, compared to their earnings pre-concession era.
Speaking with newsmen in Lagos, Adeyanju said dockworkers now enjoy better working conditions, compared to what obtained in the pre-concession era.
According to him, “Before concession, they were just using us. Nobody could talk about what his take home pay was. Sometimes, some people got between N10,000 and N20,000 per month but today, it has improved tremendously to between N100, 000 and N150, 000.”
Adeyanju, who lauded terminal operators for increasing the wages of dockworkers in spite of the low volume of import in the country, appealed to the Federal Government to urgently fix the dilapidated port access roads, which he said had been adversely affecting port operations and the nation’s economy.
“The roads to the seaports have contributed to most of the problems that our members are facing today. Because of the bad roads, some of the vessels that are supposed to come to the port are sometimes diverted to neighbouring countries,” he said.
Adeyanju, said that some dockworkers were paid by tonnage, others by permanent employment, while some were on unit payment, pointing out that those on payment by tonnage needed to handle higher tonnage to get better payment, but the bad roads had been affecting their performance.
The union leader however appealed to the terminal operators to urgently sign the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which will review the retirement benefit for dockworkers.
“We are not being rigid in negotiations in order to accommodate both the employer and the employee. We are not demanding much because we feel all of us are working together. If the economy improves, the lives of the workers will also improve. We do not want to be rigid in our negotiation and that is what is causing the delay now,” he added.
Stating that terminal operators have offered something, which has been approved by both parties, he said that dockworkers’ retirement benefits should be paid by the operators and not the stevedoring contractors.