Union Sets to Sign Collective Bargaining Agreement for Workers At Lekki Port

By DAPO OLAWUNI

The President General of Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) Comrade Adewale Adeyanju has revealed that the union is on the verge of signing a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for workers at the Lekki Port of Lagos.

Comrade Adeyanju who is also the Deputy National President of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) told DAILY TREND in Lagos on Wednesday that the CBA would ensure good salaries and other entitlements for workers at the port and to make sure they are not used as slaves in their fathers land.

The unionist commended operators of the multi-billion dollars port, saying that they have been treating the workers well in terms of salary structure and other welfare standards.

“The Lekki Deep Seaport is a new port and we are about putting in a Condition of Service for all the workers at the port, we have started for almost one month now, at the end of the day, they would have an handbook. If you don’t have an handbook, the Workers would be used as slaves, but now, we are about to sign CBA for all the workers.

“The Lekki Port operators have started very well, in terms of salary structure and other things they have put in place, they are doing well, even though some of the workers are still under probation, few of them have been confirmed, but by the time we sign the CBA, we shall be heading somewhere.

“The terminal was complaining about the Dollar-Naira exchange rate, and they wanted to reduce the workforce, but we said No. The terminal is very lucky that all the workers there are not new, some of them are professionals who have worked at APMT, TICT, Ports and Cargo, WACT and INTELS, so they cannot be treated as new workers, they are old wines in new bottle” Adeyanju told our correspondent.

The MWUN President General commended the Lagos State Government for the ongoing construction works on the access road to the port.

“I want to thank the Lagos State government for the access to Lekki Port, instead of the four hours we normally spend on the road, we were able to do 1hour-30minutes, this is to tell you of the speed with which work is going on the road, we commend the Lagos State government for doing a very good job, the contractors are wonderful.

“I am sure that before June 2024, the road would be motorable for everybody, the traffic would be reduced and we can talk of efficiency. For now, cargoes are still being moved by barges, I believe we stand a chance at port efficiency with Lekki Port” he said