AS NJIC pledges to Uphold Dictates of CBA

To keep to Ports and Terminals running and in order to ensure optimum performance by port workers within the Nigerian port environment, the Federal Government through its regulatory Agency-the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has assured stakeholders of its commitment to the protection of the rights and welfare of dockworkers as guaranteed in the International Labor Organization (ILO) Decent Work Agenda.

The Agency’s Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, ML/CS, Mr. Victor Ochei, gave the assurance in Lagos during a meeting of the National Joint Industrial Council (NJIC).

Executive Director, Maritime Labour & Cabotage Services (ED ML&CS), NIMASA, Mr. Victor Ochei flanked by other members of the NJIC

Issues discussed at the meeting include the revised minimum wage and improved living standard for dockworkers through the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) initiative endorsed by NIMASA and NJIC in 2018.

Addressing issues during the meeting, the Executive Director, said, “Dockworkers are integral to efficient and effective stevedoring operation and the NJIC has remained resolute in ensuring harmonious working relationships through the principle of tripartism and the execution of Collective Bargaining Agreements on minimum standards for the dock labour industry.”

Ochei, who is also Chairman of NJIC, extoled the efforts of the dockworkers to keep the maritime industry afloat, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. He said NIMASA was determined to ensure the dockworkers got what was due to them.

Ochei therefore called on the council members to cooperate with NIMASA towards ensuring meaningful negotiations that would culminate in the signing of another CBA; assuring that NIMASA has made necessary arrangements for successful council proceedings.

Ochei hinted that the success of the exercise would further demonstrate Nigeria’s compliance and commitment to the ideals of the ILO Decent Work Agenda, which seeks to promote safe work, decent wage, and freedom of association.

Representative of the Federal Ministry of Labour, Mrs. Joyce Udoinwang, expressed the Ministry’s commitment to the welfare of dockworkers and its resolve to ensure that no dockworker in Nigeria is short-changed. She appealed for cooperation from all the parties involved in the tripartite agreement.

President-General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, commended NIMASA for midwifing the CBA. saying it has brought harmony and peace in the maritime industry. Adeyanju disclosed that the NJIC would reconvene in the next few weeks to deliberate and agree on new wages for dockworkers. He called for the cooperation of the terminal operators and employers of dock labour to ensure the attainment of the Decent Work Agenda.

“So far so good, the terminal operators and employers of dock labour are doing their best, but so much can still be done to better the welfare of their workers,” Adeyanju said.

Speaking also at the meeting, the representative of the Seaports Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN), Otunba Kunle Folarin, applauded NIMASA for its role over the years to promote peace and harmonious labour relations in the industry. Folarin said NJIC would cooperate with the Agency to sustain peace and sanity at the ports.

Other members of the NJIC, who were at the meeting, included the representative of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mr. Charles Okaga, and President of National Association of Stevedoring Companies (NASC), Mr. Bolaji Sunmola. They both assured of their support towards improved welfare for seafarers.

It would be recalled that in 2018, NJIC signed a Collective Bargaining Agreement with NIMASA that elapsed on May 31, 2020.

The CBA, which is for a two-year period, is intended to ensure industrial peace in the maritime industry. It involves requirements for the fair treatment of dockworkers, making sure every employee gets an employment letter and a package of terminal benefits when their contract expires.