Maritime workers suspend planned strike

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has called off its three- day warning strike scheduled to begin on December 9.

The strike, to protest against bad roads leading to the nation’s seaports in Lagos, was initially fixed for December 7 but was shifted to Wednesday to sensitise other stakeholders on its necessity.

In a statement on Wednesday, Ibrahim Nasiru, assistant general manager, corporate & strategic communications of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), said the union withdrew the strike after hours of deliberation with the authority on Tuesday.

“In the course of the meeting, Management of the Authority assured members of the union and other stakeholders that the problem of congestion and rent seeking on access roads to the ports will soon become history with the scheduled deployment of an electronic-call up system for trucks in January 2021,” the statement read.

“Management is working with the Lagos state government to provide truck holding bays as part of the implementation of the e-call up system.”

NPA said it is collaborating with the federal ministry of works and housing for the immediate commencement of remedial works on damaged portions of the port access road.

The authority also said it is working with Lagos state government to deploy law enforcement officers for the maintenance of sanity along the Port Logistic Ring.

NPA noted that shipping companies must ensure that the size of their respective empty container holding bay is equivalent with the volume of containers they bring into the ports, warning that failure to do so would attract sanctions.

It said that shipping companies that default in dropping empty containers at the designated holding bay would be punished.