Chris Brown, an Engineer and Labour Unionist, in this interview with the Publisher of Kristina Reports, Godswill Jumbo, identifies himself as the Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Bonny Branch, informing that he has mediated between the protesting workers of Daewoo Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited (DECN). According to him, there was appreciable progress in the talks being mediated by him between the workers and DECN. Excerpts here…
Kristina Reports: We are learning that NLC is mediating in the Daewoo matter led by you, and that do far the workers have resume work fir about three days now, so we wanted to confirm that, that Breakthrough has happened.
Chris Brown: Yes, actually, I was called, NLC was called to resolve conflict and since they said that the (Daewoo) management said they don’t want to discuss with NAPO, the workers also said they don’t want NUCECFWW to discuss on their issue. So, the NLC was brought up to champion their course. They had seven demands which when we came, we had to pick 12 of them to go with us.
Is it the elected excos or people they nominated?
They are not excos, they nominated 12 persons to go with us for that discussion with management, they were not elected; it is not election, it’s just to go and discuss with the management. When we got to the meeting, after the discussions that Monday, some of the seven items the workers presented, some of which were what staff have agreed with NUCECFWW before: calling back the workers, no form of victimization, salary issue was also one of them, and other things. But then, the management that was there, took decision on what they can take decision on and those two were what they can take decision on. However, they said that their top management will be in Bonny today (Wednesday), so, they now agreed that we should postpone the meeting for today when their top management will be around so that they can discuss the other five items on the workers demand.
However, they still insisted that NUCECFWW stay out of their issues for now. But then they were saying that they want to have nominees, an indigenous union that will just be representing workers interest and I told them that cannot work. I told them that once my job is done, they have to identify under a trade union that would pilot their affairs. I also advised them that if their union is not representing them well, they can follow due process of getting a new leadership for the union because if you don’t have a union then there is every room for the management to start victimising and marginalising the workers. I also told them that the union is just a body so are the people that are in need that probably make it look weak or make it look hard. So, they should look at it in that light, and they agreed and said it’s fine. Probably, after the discussion, they as the DECN they may have their own union representative that the present union representative is for Daewoo Ltd. So, so far, that’s the discussion that we are having but a new twist that came up yesterday was that workers called me and said that they learnt that the NUCECFWW leadership from State is around.
After that meeting on Monday, I had to go along with the other workers they told to represent them, I addressed them and we all agreed that they have to go back to work, since management is willing to talk to them now, and since management have shown concern and want to take their issues seriously. I addressed them and they now went back to work on Tuesday, but from the memo we signed, it was stated that they’ve gone back to work on Monday, the meeting closed late so they resumed work fully on Tuesday.
Now, two other issues before we let you go, one, you said that NLC was called, was it NLC as Bonny Branch or NLC as Rivers State Chapter or National?
Yes!
So NLC has a Bonny Branch?
Yes, NLC has a Bonny Branch.
And you are the Chairman?
Yes, I’m the Chairman of Bonny Branch.
Okay, the last one is, we understand that soldiers were called into the facility even at the roundabout and other areas and they are compelling workers to go to work against their will, are you aware of anything like that?
No, it’s actually not true, nothing like that; actually, the soldiers were just there on Monday but they were not compelling anybody to go to work. They were just around but they were not compelling anybody. It was after that meeting that we advised everybody to go to work because in the rule of collective bargaining, the management has agreed to talk on the negotiation table, so we must have to go back to work.
1. I believe that the workers has try by going back to work.
2.The Deawoo management should try on their own part because they know the reason for workers shutting down
3. Why some of the new workers that was supposed to resume work on that day the sites was shutdown are still out home WHY.
4. postpone the reamening five things which the works has submitted for a long time is not really good for a bigger project like the one Deawoo is working on right now in Bonny Island.
5. You know that many mistake has been made with many projects like this in Bonny Island in the past
6. I strongly believe that you are are we’re of how many years youths who has been waiting for this project and believing that after this bigger project their life’s will change……