Dockworkers at Nigeria’s first deep seaport, the Lekki Port, recently embarked on strike over unpaid allowances from the container terminal operator of the port, Lekki Freeport Terminal, disrupting cargo flow out of the port while the strike lasted. In this report, TOLA ADENUBI looks at why the trend may recur anytime soon.
The coming on stream of the $1.5 billion Lekki deep seaport has been a game changer for Nigerian ports system due to its ability to wrest hitherto lost transit cargoes from Nigeria’s neighbouring ports back to Nigeria.
The prevalence of two major river ports, Apapa and Tin-Can for decades had meant that Nigeria was losing out on transit cargoes that usually come onboard very large vessels that Apapa and Tin-Can ports cannot handle.
With the commencement of operations at Lekki Port, Nigeria has started becoming a force to be reckoned with in the West African sub-region because very large vessels have started calling at Lekki to discharge their cargoes while trans-shipment activities of cargoes to other smaller ports from Lekki Port has also began.
While the euphoria over the emergence of Lekki Port has barely settled, the disruption of cargo evacuation services at the port due to a face-off between dockworkers and container terminal operator has brought a new twist to the trajectory of Nigeria’s first deep seaport.
Labour issues
Checks by the Nigerian Tribune revealed that the recent face-off between the Lekki Freeport Terminal and the dockworkers was down to the refusal of the container terminal operator to pay the workers allowances like the Child Education Allowance (CEA) and the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) allowances.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, the district chairman, Lekki Freeport chapter of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Mr Ajao Murtala Ishola, explained that the Lekki Freeport Terminal refused to pay the workers CEA and CBA, leading to an industrial action last week, which stalled cargo evacuation processes at the port for more than five hours.
Ishola said, “Two weeks ago, we embarked on a warning strike because the container terminal operator at Lekki Deep seaport, the Lekki Freeport Terminal, refused to pay us our Child Education Allowance and our Collective Bargaining Agreement.
“The current Managing Director of Lekki Freeport Terminal, Mr Yann Magarian, has proven difficult to relate with when it comes to implementation of labour agreement. We even learnt he is leaving. Maybe that is why he has not been in good terms with the workers.
“These are agreements signed between the workers and the Lekki Freeport Terminal, but the container terminal operator has refused to implement these agreements.
“Other terminal operators across Nigerian ports have paid their workers their CBA and CEA, but Lekki Freeport has refused to pay. The money is overdue and we will ensure they pay up.
“When we went on strike last week, they called us and asked us to come for another meeting this week. That was why we shelved the strike.”
Why disruptions might recur
Findings by the Nigerian Tribune further revealed that the issue of who gets what concerning the Child Education Allowance (CEA) is an argument that might not be resolved anytime soon.
While the container terminal operator is arguing that only workers with children should get the CEA, the union has argued that the CEA is embedded in all the employment letters given to workers and, therefore, should be fully implemented.
“I read your report where a source within the Lekki Freeport Container terminal asked why workers without children should get the CEA. I want to say that when the Lekki Freeport Terminal was giving workers their employment letters, did they ask the workers if they had children?
“In the employment letters given to all workers at Lekki Freeport Terminal, the Child Education Allowance is embedded in it. Thus, the workers deserve to get it because it is the their entitlement. Nobody asked anybody if he or she has children when employment letters were being given out to workers. Now that it is time to implement payment that is embedded inside the employment letters, somebody is now asking why some workers shouldn’t get the allowance because they don’t have children. Did Lekki Freeport Terminal ask workers if they have children or not before issuing out employment letters to them?
“The next meeting to resolve these issues has been postponed to November of this year. We hope to get everything resolved by then,” Ishola stated.
Also, findings by the Nigerian Tribune revealed that due to Lekki Freeport Terminal being a subsidiary of CMA-CGM, a French shipping giant, communication channel between the container terminal operator and the workers are sometimes delayed.
“The communication channel at Lekki Freeport Terminal to workers sometimes takes time. You know the port is a subsidiary of CMA-CGM, so, at times, the terminal operator waits for directive from the parent company to handle some issues that come up at the terminal.
“But we don’t have any problem with this. We hope that by November when we meet with them again, everything that needs to be done should have been put on the table for implementation.
“However, if nothing is resolved by November, our next line of action will be determined by the President-General of the MWUN,” Ishola added.
Way forward
Recall that workers at Lekki Freeport Container Terminal downed tools for about five hours recently over a face-off with the container terminal operator concerning payment of outstanding allowances.
While the workers refused to work, cargo evacuation process got stalled at Nigeria’s first deep seaport for hours until the container terminal operator called the workers to appeal that they return to work as management was working on their demands.
With a showdown meeting coming up in November, all hopes lie in the outcome of that meeting because Nigeria cannot afford a shutdown of its first deep seaport barely one year after commencement of operations over sundry labour issues.
