The dockworkers branch of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has accused stevedoring companies operating at the nation’s seaport of breaching safety standards.
President of the branch, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju who made the accusation in a chat with journalists, said stevedoring companies are required to acquire standard ambulances that would attend to their workers if need be.
He said the union would not hesitate to picket any stevedoring firm that fails to comply with set standards.
He said, “Some don’t have up to date safety equipment. Some don’t even have ambulance and we are going to picket some of them very soon.
“We are talking about the third parties in the job chain at the seaports, the stevedoring contractors; they are the ones who are responsible for the welfare of the workers under them. Some dockworkers work with them, yet their ambulance is nothing to write home about.
“We have noticed some of the ambulances are sub-standard and we will be going about to inspect these safety equipment. When we go around, we will then make public the names of the stevedoring contractors who operate sub-standard equipment at the seaport.”
Speaking on the payment of tally clerks recently agreed with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Adeyanju said, “As I am talking to you now, the tally clerks salaries have not been paid. We had earlier issued out a 14-day ultimatum which has elapsed but due to the promise of the NPA management and the involvement of the Ministry of Transport then, that was why we shelved our strike.
“There was a communiqué which we signed with them on the payment, and that is almost a month ago, yet they have not started making payment. We are still keeping our arms crossed and will react when our patience elapses.”
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