Yemi Olakitan
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The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, has given a seven-day strike warning in response to the Mediterranean Shipping Company, MSC, plans to acquire Bollore Transport and Logistics Nigeria Limited and Tin Can Island Container Terminal.
When the seven-day deadline for answers expired, MWUN threatened to shut down the ports if the management of the two firms did not respond. It bemoaned the fact that the proprietors of the two firms had kept workers’ fates a secret.
AdewaleAdeyanju, the president-general of MWUN, criticized TICT and Bollore for refusing to respond to questions the Union had regarding the acquisition plan. He noted that the Union had written to both businesses on September 14, 2022, “to know the fate of its members, but the companies have purposefully refused to engage the Union.
Therefore, we are left with no choice but to give TICT and Bollore a seven-day ultimatum in which we demand to know what will become of our members and what will happen in the event that management changes, including what will happen to their jobs or payoffs.
MWUN claimed that it would be “forced to withdraw its services from the ports if our requests are not granted” at the end of the seven-day warning period in a letter dated November 14, 2022, sent to the management of both firms on behalf of the Union’s Secretary-General, Felix Akingboye. This has become important in light of growing unease and unrest regarding the secrecy of the entire process and the potential effects of the acquisition on the employment retention or outright payout of our members.
A copy of the letter, ‘‘Re- Important Announcement from CyrilleBollore: Demand to Know the Fate of Our Members,’’ says, “We are surprised that your management has yet to respond, creating grounds for mistrust and unfavourable assumptions about the destiny of our members, your employees, after the conclusion of the acquisition process. “
‘‘On the basis of the aforementioned and in light of the rising unrest among our members in the workforce, I am instructed to issue your management a seven-day deadline beginning on the date of this letter, during which time they must provide us with the needed information.Please take note that the Union will use whatever legal means at its disposal, including ceasing all services, to protect the interests of its members.’’
