Always pungent, acerbic, elucidating and benign to the plight of Nigerian workers, despite being subjected to diverse travails in the course of his activism and advocacy for the right thing to be done within the Nigerian labour system. Harold Benstowe, President General, National Association of Plant Operators has been in the trenches against companies he deems antagonistic to the wellbeing of Nigerian workers spoke with Kristina Reports Correspondent, Michael Ejiata in Bonny Island, Rivers State on Sunday, September 8, 2024.

He informed that his association, the National Association of Plant Operators (NAPO), which is seeking to be registered as recognized as a trade union, has dragged the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), its Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractors, Daewoo Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited (DECN), Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), National Union of Civil Engineering, Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW), Construction and Civil Engineering Senior Staff Association (CCESSA), and the various security agencies that participated in allegedly inflicting human rights abuses on workers at the Train 7 project site in 2022 to the National Industrial Court. He offered several insights into the industrial crisis between the companies and NAPO. Enjoy the read!   

Kristina Reports: You just ended a meeting here, what’s the meeting about and who are the attendees?

Harold Benstowe: We came to notify the members of NAPO that are staffs of Daewoo, Saipem, Evomec and others participating in the Nigerian LNG Train 7 gas plant project. We have been on for some time that it is an issue whereby the employers have decided to deny the workers the right to freely choose their Union as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

We know that some time ago you had this protest at the Train 7 site, and it lasted for some time and these were the issues about workers having to make a choice as to which Union to identify with and other labour rights pertaining to the workers. So, what’s the update?

Now, well after the management of NLNG, Saipem and Daewoo came in with security agents to brutalize the workers for them to accept the union that they have imposed on them, the workers decided to take them to court. Right now, they have filed an action; Daewoo workers with their union, the National Association of Plant Operators (NAPO) has dragged nine parties to court that includes Daewoo Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited (DECN), Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited, Nigeria LNG, CCESSA, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of the DSS, and the Chief of Army Staff. The workers of Daewoo are now in court with the employers and some purported trade unions and the security agencies.

So, what are the workers demanding? What are the reliefs they are seeking from the court?

Yes, among other things, that the court should grant them the right as enshrined in the Constitution to freely form their Union and also to enter a contract agreement with the employers through their union other than NUCECFWW and CCESSA. So, if the court grants them that, among others, then they will be free from henceforth in the construction sector to start engaging the employers and make their demands without being imposed with a union that they don’t like and that is being controlled by the employers.

Okay, now the most trending issue in Bonny in relation to the Train 7 has been about the pay. What we saw documented as the rates for payment was $8 and €9 per hour for the Train 7 project but checks by Kristina Reports revealed that the payment, so far, even for the most paid is somewhere below even $1. Also, you know that because of how this project was hyped with all the benefits that will come from it, the house rent in Bonny has increased, living conditions have increased, the prices of goods, everything has skyrocketed, now, making life difficult for residents of Bonny. So, by the time this case is resolved and the reliefs hopefully granted the workers, will it address this payment issue in Bonny and can you confirm the NLNG’s claimed before the National Assembly that they have employed like 10,000 workers on that project?

Well, quote me anywhere – I am a man of my word – right from the onset of this protest by the workers I have been on air and I said you cannot be paying the foreigners above $3,000 and you are paying Nigerian workers below $250; that we will not take it anymore. The main crux of this matter – Daewoo is aware – that is why; let me quote one Korean when he was relating to a worker, he said say NAPO conditions of service is very long. The Korean is trying to explain how committed NAPO under my leadership is to make sure that the condition of service, in fact, what they have signed for this project goes to the people that are working. They will have to tell us what is the terms of contract? How much was negotiated for this contract for the employees? It is in our protest letter before the National Assembly, before the Senate start asking NLNG and to produce the contract of agreement and how much is supposed to be paid to the workers. It is because we have made mention of it in one of our bullet points that is before even the United Nations, the European Union, the Federal Ministry of Justice, the US Embassy; in fact, all the embassies whose countries are represented in this project has our protest letter. It is all over the air. In the House of Reps, I told Honourable Jeremiah Alaboso, the Chairman of Public Petitions in the House of Representatives – when he asked me directly when the company and their lawyers could not defend themselves against my petition – he now asked me, ‘young man, what do you need?’ I told him that over N30 billion every month is been stolen from the Nigerian workers participating in that project that if this N30 billion is spread to Nigerian workers, definitely the economy of this country will improve because when you pay them they fall back to the society. They go to the market. They also pay the market people and the money will circulate. Today, we are crying hunger, hunger. It is because some of these multinationals were not properly handled, they are not properly watched. A situation whereby the Federal Government will sign a project and give to a foreign company and they tell the Federal Government that they will pay these workers $10,000, $5,000 but when it comes to implementation, they will not pay them even up to $250.

Okay, so before we let you go; now the countries and the institutions you mentioned, you didn’t mention the Presidency. Has this been brought before the President to know what’s going on?

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation that is the office that receives every letter for the President has our protest letter and we have the acknowledgement. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has it; even the Minister of Interior. These are all part of the Federal Executive Council – about five Ministers heading these Ministries have the protest letters – and it was the Ministry of Justice that now asked the Inspector General of Police to investigate the cases of human rights abuse on Daewoo workers by the Police that made the IG to set up a team in Abuja which I have gone and I have given them statements of what really happened. The investigation is ongoing before we went to the National Industrial Court. So, the Federal Executive Council is aware of the problem, the challenges Nigerian construction workers are facing in NLNG.  

So, now you met with the workers – let’s say that’s your parting words – what did you tell them as a way of encouragement?

Well, we have told them so far those who we are asked to go home, they should not bother because they will pay them their money till date because section 20 of the Nigerian Labor Act give processes of redundancy. So, you cannot build something upon nothing what they are just doing is a nullity. We have challenged all these actions before the court. So, they should come down and sit in their home and be counting their salary the only thing I’m asking them to do is to scan the ID card they should go to the bank and get a statement of account and keep them because we will come to that point where they will be proven that they are staffs of Daewoo in this Train 7 project and whatever that is negotiated will also affect them right there at their home that is the position of the Law.