Following a tripartite meeting midwived by Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) for Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN) and shipping companies in the country, maritime workers have suspended the strike which grounded port operations yesterday.
MWUN had embarked on the strike embarked on the strike by 8am on Monday against shipping companies in Nigeria over their failure to sign a new working terms for workers in the shipping sector.
However, the union called off the action last night into following the intervention of the NSC as the economic regulator of the port and the assurance given by the Shipping Companies/ Agencies & Freight Forwarders Employers Association (SCAFFEA) to look into the Minimum Standards and the Condition of Service in the shipping industry.
According to a communique issued at the end of the tripartite meeting between the Council, MWUN and SCAFFEA on Monday, at the Shippers’ Council headoffice in Apapa, the following resolutions were reached:
“Maritime Workers Union and Shipping Companies/Agencies and Freight Forwarders Employers Association expressed commitment for sincere negotiations on the Minimum Standard of Condition of Service in the Industry.”
“Parties agreed to a timeline of One ( l ) Month starting from Monday 5th June, 2023 to 4th July 2023 for completion of the negotiations.”
”Parties to establish an acceptable Minimum Standards on the Condition of Service in the Shipping Industry especially on gratuity.”
“Based on the above, the Maritime Workers Union agreed to suspend the on-going industrial strike”
The communique was signed by the Executive Secretary of NSC, Hon. Emmanuel Jime; President General of Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Adewale Adeyanju; and the Managing Director of Grimaldi Shipping, Mr. Ascanio Russo for SCAFFEA.
