President-General of MWUN and his outstanding achievements as Labour Leader
*Liberates dockworkers from slavery of casualisation in labour
(Written by Silas Onuoha):
The President-General himself :
The President -General, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), is a proactive and outstanding Labour Leader in Nigeria.
His tenacity and uncompromising position in protecting the rights of maritime workers, especially dockworkers are clealy demonstrated in the way he leads the Union.
MWUN under his leadership has received greater attention and recognition in the industry, even as he has succeeded in making dockworkers apoear as respected professionals before terminal operators and stakeholders in the industry.
Most dignifying is the fact that he works assiduously to completely liberate his members from slavery called casualisation in Nigeria labour market.
*Casualisation in labour is when an employee works for over 20 years in a company and retires without any benefit or pension, on the basis of being a casual worker.*
The turning point in the maritime industry is that Comrade Adeyanju has through his selfless service freed dockworkers from this kind of slavery in their own country.
Today, every dockworker no matter his category is entitled to some retirement benefits and incentives. Courtesy of leadership insight by MWUN.
Comrade Adeyanju in a chat with Business Update described dockworkers as professionals rendering essential services in the nation’s ports, who must be respected and well treated in terms of welfare.
He also went memory lane to recall the struggles, and efforts made by the Union to phase out casualisation in the sector.
Hear him, “The issue of casualisation was a serious matter in the industry.
“When we came on board in 2003, we tried to phase it out gradually.
Let me speak for dockworkers first. We have three mode of operations.
(A) Time rated wages
(B) Payment by tonnage
(C) Permanent employment.
“The Terminal Operators are those engaging the services of stevedoring contractors, who onward employ dockworkers.
“At present, you cannot just come into the ports and work without being registered by NIMASA. Therefore, anyone who violates this agreement must face sanction of N1million fine or Six months jail sentence. This is to tell you how important dockworkers are in the ports.”
He went on, “Our efforts to phase out casualisation of labour is what brought about the basis of these collective agreements with stakeholders. In that capacity, we have three mode of agreements.
(A) Time rated wages
(B) Agreement by tonnage
(C) Permanent employment.”
He continued, “Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), is under Civil Service structure. Shipping firms too have permanent employment, while seafaring is three months on and three months off.”
The President-General enthused, “Today, if you fall under these three categories, you are entitled to gratuity and other benefits” .
He disclosed, “Before now, there was no gratuity, no pension. But with these three mode of operations in place at the moment, if a dockworker is about to leave the industry, he is entitled to his pension and gratuity.
The beauty of what the Union is doing is that, sometimes we can look at the capacity of stevedoring contractors who may not be able to pay the gratuity of a dockworker.
“In such a sitaution, we contact the Terminal Operators and sit down to negotiate the exit of the dockworker with NPA and NIMASA as observers.
“At the end of the negotiation, the Union ensures that the dockworker gets some benefits.”
