Under Comrade Francis Bunu, MWUN Workers Salary Increases from N400k to N1million

—How he is Silently Securing Mouthwatering Salary Packages for Members

Since he assumed office in March 2025, Comrade Francis Bunu, the President General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), he has adopted a “dont make noise” philosophy in his operations, even as he has become a silent force behind unprecedented salary increases for his members across its four branches, especially, the Seafarers Branch.

In this interview with DAPO OLAWUNI on Tuesday 25th November at the union’s secretariat in Apapa, Comrade Bunu said that the new executives of the union under his watch, has been revolutionalising MWUN Members salary packages.
He revealed that there are companies where the workers were previously earning N400,000 but are now earning more than N1million. According to him, the union has secured more than 100percent increase in salary for its members.

See excerpts

How has it been since you came into office, especially as it concerns union welfare and CBA?

​If you have been following the trend of things in the union, you will know that what we are doing right now has not happened in the history of the union before, it has not even happened in the history of union CBAs (Collective Bargaining Agreement).

Since we came on board, the kind of welfare packages, the kind of CBA that we produce now is of the top-notch. It has not happened before. We have a company that we are receiving N200,000 before. Today, right now, they are receiving more than N500,000.
The people that were receiving N400,000, today, they are receiving more than N1million. Has it happened before? It has not happened before.

Because we are not making noise about it, it doesn’t mean we are not working, we choose not to make noise about these achievements, we want the job to be done. The people that we are doing the job for, they are equally telling us thank you, and then we are very, very comfortable.

In the seafarers section for example, they are telling us thank you for the good job that we are doing for them. That is why you see everywhere in the port, everywhere is peaceful. And we have told everybody who cares to know, and the employers of labour, keep workers first, because your business and the workers go together. The workers are the ones who keep the business running, they are the ones manging the business, you as an employer of labour, you are just an owner.
Those who are managing this business and the business itself should always be looked after. And that is what the union stands for, so that the business can be growing while the workers also benefit. This is what we have been doing.

We also have in-house renovations ongoing, if you go to the union right now, we are doing massive renovation in this building, it takes a huge amount of money to do all these. But we don’t make noise.

CBA’s are being negotiated across board, as I am talking to you right now, one or two CBA negotiations is going on right now. If I leave this offixe now, I am going to the other side again to speak with another company.
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So you are doing the CBA across companies?
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Yes, one company after the other. The moment your own CBA expires, you face us.
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What about the one for dockworkers?

Dockworkers are the same thing. You know, with the dockworkers CBA, they just finished CBAs before we entered into office. But anyone that has expired we are meeting on them. In the aspect of compensation of injuries, we taken it to the top notch. It has not happened before. Not just only the seafarers. Both the dockworkers
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That is very wonderful. I was told that you secured as much as a 100% increase in salary?

It is even more than that

What about the shipping aspect and others?

Shipping too, their CBA right now is on the top notch. As I am talking to you, any CBA that this new administration engages on, we carry the workere along, we hear from them, we talk with them, we ask them; what do we want and how do we go about it? First of all, look at the standard of your company. What can we get from your company? Be sincere in managing it. Workers also need to be sincere in your assessment. We need to be able to marry the two and be able to make a better CBA across.

So, our goal is to make sure that the workers who work in this industry benefits from it, because they are the trade unions. We don’t have any other thing than the Workers that we are fighting for. No other thing. So therefore, our first primary duty is to them first. Our first allegiance is to them. Every other thing that we do is just an addition. But the main important thing is to make sure that since we have a minister and a president who have been able to take special interest in the marine sector, we are keying into their interests, so as to improve workere’ welfare.

We are also unionizing more companies. No company wants to join union because they know that when you join union, you are going to know your left and right. Every management wants to do whatever they want to do. But they know that if you join the union, that day your eyes will be open.
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So, since you started, what would you say are the challenges you met on the job?
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The challenges we met on the job is we need proper enlightenment. Both the government itself and its agencies, to enlighten Nigerians. There are so many good things that the government is doing, the union is doing, and the stakeholders are also doing, but because people are not being informed, people don’t know their left from right. So, our greatest challenge is public enlightenment.