Workers of Daewoo Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited, contractor to the SCD JV (Saipem Chiyoda on the Train 7 project of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) say their ongoing industrial action against the company would be called off when it meets their demands.  

President General of the National Association of Plant Operators (NAPO), Harold Benstowe said this on Thursday, September 15, 2022 in Bonny, Rivers State during a peaceful protest by the aggrieved workers.

Bearing placards with inscriptions such as “NAPO Says NO To Monkey Dey Work But Na Bamboo Dey Chop System” “NAPO Has Come To Stay” “We Are Peaceful In Our Demands” “We Refuse To Be Intimidated”, and lots more, the workers blocked the Access Road to the NLNG’s Industrial Area (IA), thus forcing staff of the NLNG and those of other companies from resuming work this morning.

According to Benstowe, the blockade was staged against the Nigeria LNG after the expiration of their 48 hours ultimatum to call their contractor, Daewoo Nigeria Limited to order by acceding to the demands of the workers.

He crystallized the workers were protesting the violation of their rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly, illegal deductions from their salaries without their consent and arbitrary dismissals of staffs without recourse to extant procedures for resolving labour issues.

He stated that the Nigerian labour laws are clear that “an employer must not dismiss any worker due to his association with the trade union and the activities of the union”, stating that NAPO was an affiliate of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and as such its officials and members were entitled to their rights and privileges guaranteed by Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution and extant labour laws.   

“Nigeria LNG must speak to end up the apartheid system where colour and race determine the wages of workers participating in the Nigerian LNG construction and maintenance workforce.”

He called on the Managing Director of NLNG, Dr Philip Mshelbila to call his Train 7 project contractors, Daewoo E & C Nigeria Limited, to reverse the dismissals of staffs and also “show proof that nobody will be victimised for the reason of joining a trade union that the workers have chosen and refund their money that has been deducted from their salaries”.

Checks by Kristina Reports indicate that under Nigerian Labour laws “the contract of employment must not make it a condition of employment to join or leave the trade union. An employer must not dismiss any worker due to his association with the trade union and the activities of the union, it is on these laws that the union is making their demands”.

Furthermore, the Trade Union Act 2004 recognizes the possibility of more than one union as it mandates that where more than one trade union exists in a company, they should form an electoral college to elect representatives to engage in collective bargaining on behalf of the workers.

Though the protest was peaceful, troops drawn from the 146 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, operatives of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) Bonny and Finima Divisions and C4i were on site to ensure there was no breakdown of law and order.

The blockade, though, peacefully executed as the workers sang and danced to labour solidarity songs under the close watch of security operatives, prevented several workers from various other companies from accessing their offices and worksites thus halting operations in those environments.

Obviously, the downtime on $10billion Train 7 project cannot be quantified in terms of economic losses and administrative snarls with several business engagements and service or product delivery timelines were stalled.

The impact on the Bonny business environment was instantly felt as several workers had to return home early in the day as well as several induction candidates who were supposed to resume work same day.