More than 600 disengaged dockworkers in Lagos on Wednesday protested against the non-payment of their 10 -year wages and other sundry issues by Energy Nephthagas Limited (ENL).
Marching through Arumoh Street in Ajegunle down to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) head office in Marina-CMS, the workers in their hundreds, demanded the payment of 10-year monthly wages, balance of workers percentage and yearly leave allowances covering the 10-year period.
One of the protesters, Mr. Gerard Eseagu, explained that as a result of the privatisation and concession policy, over 600 workers were disengaged from ENL Consortium Limited. “We were advised to resign after 10 years contract job with a token sum of N350,000 for redundancy, terminal and hazardous benefits.
In his reaction, the Executive Secretary of ENL Consortium Limited, Boye Uzamot, advised the public to ignore the disengaged workers because they are fighting a lost course.
According to him, they had been paid what was due to them under the collective Bargaining Agreement between Terminal Operators and Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria.
“We did not shortchange anybody. Our firm is a law-abiding company and we have not in any way breached any law. This can be verified from . Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), NPA and other stakeholders,” he said.
Similarly, a coalition of civil society groups in the country has expressed dismay over the recent mass sack of over 400 workers of Diamond Bank in what it termed circumstances that negated the principles of fairness and justice.
The coalition in a statement released in Lagos and signed by its spokesperson and National Coordinator, Citizens Rights and Leadership Awareness Initiative, Mr. Peter Nwokolo, said their disengagement did not follow due process as required by extant labour laws and international best practices.
The statement added that contrary to insinuations by the management of the bank that their sack was purely a performance management process in which poor performers were laid off, they were shocked to discover that most of the sacked workers had, indeed, obtained appraisal scores in excess of the recommended score of 50 per cent and above, going by the bank’s last performance index concluded in February 2016.
“Most of the staff had well over 70 to 90 per cent scores and could not have turned so intolerably poor in performance within a period of less than three months.
We are therefore calling on Diamond Bank to immediately engage the sacked workers in negotiations with a view to reaching an agreement on the terms of settlement, so that the affected staff can move on with their careers, which has been damaged by the negative reports that they were sacked as a result of lack of productivity.”
One of the protesters, Mr. Gerard Eseagu, explained that as a result of the privatisation and concession policy, over 600 workers were disengaged from ENL Consortium Limited. “We were advised to resign after 10 years contract job with a token sum of N350,000 for redundancy, terminal and hazardous benefits.
In his reaction, the Executive Secretary of ENL Consortium Limited, Boye Uzamot, advised the public to ignore the disengaged workers because they are fighting a lost course.
According to him, they had been paid what was due to them under the collective Bargaining Agreement between Terminal Operators and Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria.
“We did not shortchange anybody. Our firm is a law-abiding company and we have not in any way breached any law. This can be verified from . Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), NPA and other stakeholders,” he said.
Similarly, a coalition of civil society groups in the country has expressed dismay over the recent mass sack of over 400 workers of Diamond Bank in what it termed circumstances that negated the principles of fairness and justice.
The coalition in a statement released in Lagos and signed by its spokesperson and National Coordinator, Citizens Rights and Leadership Awareness Initiative, Mr. Peter Nwokolo, said their disengagement did not follow due process as required by extant labour laws and international best practices.
The statement added that contrary to insinuations by the management of the bank that their sack was purely a performance management process in which poor performers were laid off, they were shocked to discover that most of the sacked workers had, indeed, obtained appraisal scores in excess of the recommended score of 50 per cent and above, going by the bank’s last performance index concluded in February 2016.
“Most of the staff had well over 70 to 90 per cent scores and could not have turned so intolerably poor in performance within a period of less than three months.
We are therefore calling on Diamond Bank to immediately engage the sacked workers in negotiations with a view to reaching an agreement on the terms of settlement, so that the affected staff can move on with their careers, which has been damaged by the negative reports that they were sacked as a result of lack of productivity.”
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