Members of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria on Friday protested their unpaid salary arrears by the Nigeria Port Authority.
The placard-carrying protesters stormed
the national secretariat of the union, lamenting that they were deprived
of their entitlements.
Though an agreement has been entered
into between the union and NPA, the workers alleged that there was no
sign that the port authority was ready to honour the agreement.
A copy of the agreement signed on August
15 and obtained by our correspondent, read in part, “The end of October
2013 was agreed for the payment of the outstanding bills after approval
for the supplementary budget has been fully obtained.”
Our correspondent gathered that no fewer than 1,400 workers in the country are owed an estimated N500m.
Chairman of the tally clerks and
on-board security men, poll district, Lagos, Mr. Akeem Lawal, who spoke
on behalf of other workers, said they had not been paid for eight
months.
He said, “There was an agreement between
the union and management of the NPA, which was that at the end of
October, they are going to pay us our money.
“We want to know why they used our money
to pay cargo surveyors. As legal workers, we want to know why we should
not be paid our entitlements.”
The President of the MWUN, Mr. Tony
Nted, who received the protesters, assured that if the NPA did not pay
them by October 31, the union would embark on an indefinite strike until
payments are made.
He said, “We have had meetings with the
Ministry of Works and NPA. We agreed that the arrears in salary, not
arrears in increment, will be paid on or before the end of October. We
want to believe that on October 30, the NPA will honour that agreement
or the union will have no other alternative than to withdraw the
services of members from all the ports of the federation.”
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