MWUN, NPA, IOCs Sign Communique,As Union Suspend Proposed Strike Action

By Roland Ekama

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has again suspended the proposed nationwide strike billed for Tuesday 9 January 2024 following a communique reached by management of the Nigerian Ports Authority NPA, Marginal Field Operators of the Oil and Gas Industry and the union over non-compliance with stevedoring regulations.

The intervention by the NPA was aimed to resolve the workers grievances and economic prevention to suspend the planned strike action.

The Managing Director Mohammed Bello Koko  alongside the Executive Director Engineering & Technical Services, Engr. Ibrahim Abba; Adedapo Segun, Executive Vice President DownStream Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited; Prince Adewale Adeyanju, Deputy President, Nigerian Labour Congress/President-General Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN); we’re in attendance

Others are Charles Okaga, Port Manager, Lagos Port Complex; and Comrade Ifeanyi Mazeli, President MWUN-NPA Branch .

During the emergency meeting convened by the MD/CEO of NPA to broker peace between the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria and Marginal Field Operators of the Oil and Gas Industry over non-compliance with Stevedoring Regulations, resulted in the signing of a communiqué to resolve the workers grievances and the suspension of the planned strike action.

Comrade Adeyanju in chat on Monday evening confirmed to our correspondent that the proposed strike for Tuesday has been halted, saying that meeting yielded positive results.

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) had threatened to shutdown port operations on Tuesday, the 9th of January, 2024 .

The union stated that operations in the nations seaports, jetties, and oil & gas platforms; will be halted given the continued refusal of the International Oil Companies (IOCs) and Stevedoring Contractors to comply with the Stevedoring extant laws.

The Union had written series of letters, press releases, ultimatums, marine notices; given by NIMASA and several ministerial orders, all these were serially ignored by the management of NPA, the recent was dated June 13, 2023 with ref.no. MWUN/MD/NPA/SC/U/1.23, over duly signed communiques spanning over there years. The Union is, however, using this medium to demand the total compliance of IOC’s to the stevedoring regulations in line with the communiques signed by all the relevant stakeholders in the sector