Commercial activities at the Lagos Port Complex remain crippled by the ongoing industrial action embarked on by members of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) over non-payment of wages and bonus by the management of international oil companies. The strike was embarked on at the instance of the executive of the union who had earlier given the international oil firms two weeks’ notice to pay the backlog of face the wrath of its members.
The negotiation which entered day two on Thursday remained deadlocked as neither the union nor the terminal operators were ready to shift ground.
As at 4 pm, both parties, it was gathered, could not reach a formal agreement on the payment of all outstanding entitlements being owed the workers by the IOC’s. The General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communication of NAP, Engr. Jatto Adeiza Adams told Daily Trust on the phone that the meeting, which he said was not a formal one, would avail all party the opportunity to express themselves.
He said the meeting which is being championed by the NPA was a welcome development and that at the end of it all, both parties would agree on a meeting point that would be suitable to all. “I see a ray of hope. Since you entered the port yesterday it shows that something good will come out of the meeting,” he said.
Skeletal operations were ongoing when our correspondent visited the Apapa port, yesterday, around noon. Some dockworkers were seen in groups discussing their issue. None of them, however, agreed to comment on the effect of the strike on the nation’s economy but that the International Oil Companies should do the needful.
When contacted, the President-General of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, told our correspondent that the strike was ongoing and that the points raised have been established. He said they were yet to hear anything positive from the management of the International Oil Companies.
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