NPA Begs Union To Shelve Strike Against IOCS
Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has urged the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) to shelve its planned shutdown of all port operations at and oil terminals in the country.
The strike is slated to begin on Tuesday March 1 2022, over alleged refusal of the International Oil Companies (IOCs) to allow the stevedoring companies and their workers (who are members of the union) access their platforms, thus denying them wage earning opportunities as provided by law.
In a statement by the authority’s General Manager Corporate and Strategic Communications, Ibrahim Nasiru, the union had in February, 2022 threatened to shutdown port operations nationwide, however, a peace meeting was held by the NPA’s Managing Director, Mohammed Bello-Koko with the leadership of the union last Friday in at the authority’s head office in Lagos, appealing to the union leaders not to deviate from the path of peace and industrial harmony the union has cultivated over the years.
However, the managing director said that dialogue was a veritable tool to address every agitation at the work place or in the larger society.
At the Friday meeting, Bello-Koko reminded the union leaders that shutting down port operations would generate several negative ripple effects far beyond the port industry.
He explained: “It is very important we keep the ports open for business 24 hours daily, this is our cardinal mandate as a port administration and I expect your union as a critical stakeholder would continue to partner with us to maintain and sustain this mandate.”
Bello koko disclosed that the authority in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Transportation (FMoT), was making effort to ensure that IOCs allow appointed stevedores and dockworkers access to their platforms as stipulated by law.
President General of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, while assuring the meeting of the union’s consideration to defer the planned strike, expressed the union’s satisfaction with the intervention by the Bello Koko led management.
According to him, “we commend the NPA as our landlord and parent employer, we are happy with the MD’s intervention and confidence building words; we will consider shelving the planned strike pending the outcome of further meetings. We are doing this as a show of respect to your office and in the interest of peace and industrial harmony in our maritime industry.”
Also, the managing director has urged customs agents protesting against the new Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) Valuation System introduced by Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to sheath their swords and embrace dialogue in resolving all their complaints against the new method of computing customs tax on imported vehicles.
The NPA MD who was at the Tin-Can Island Port, last Friday, on a site inspection of some infrastructure projects, explained that any disruption in the supply chain would lead to higher cost and longer delivery time for shipments, such a situation reflects negatively on the bottom line of all players involve in port business, including government agencies.
He said: “My appeal to our customs agents and freight forwarders is to engage the Nigeria Customs Service, rather than result to self-help or take actions that would promote port congestion and all the challenges that come with it. As the landlord and technical regulator, we will be working with sister government agencies to ensure Nigerian ports remains business friendly and globally competitive.”
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