Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) together with National Union of Civil Engineering Construction Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW) on Wednesday picketed Wizchino Engineering Company Limited in Abuja over complaints starting from poor welfare to anti-union practices.
They additionally accused the administration of denying staff elementary proper to belong to commerce unions of their alternative and subjecting them to slave labour situations.
The aggrieved staff who arrived the premises of the agency in firm of prime officers of NLC blocked the doorway chanting solidarity songs with placards thereby stalling regular actions.
Addressing journalists throughout picketing, National President of NUCECFWW, Comrade Stephen Okoro, mentioned the corporate has refused to recognise commerce union actions and obey situations of service for building trade.
“We are here in respect of our workers in Wizchino, popularly known as WE. They have been doing series of work in various places in all parts of country. In Delta State they refused to support trade union activity and we picketed them and we organised them,” Okoro mentioned.
He mentioned after picketing in Delta, the corporate complied with National Joint Industrial Council (NJIC) situations and allowed union leaders, however the Abuja workplace has continued to flout legislation.
According to him, the union wrote a number of letters and visited the corporate severally however the administration ignored correspondence and at occasions chased staff with cell police.
“We have written letters, copied many agencies, but they refused. They will ignore our letters. Sometimes they will chase us out with mobile police, intimidating Nigerian workers. There is need for us to sit down around table. Let them obey the condition of service made for construction workers as enshrined by law,” he mentioned.
Okoro alleged the corporate lacks primary security and welfare provisions, resulting in demise of two staff.
“We lost about two workers here. Because there is no health care. They don’t have a clinic. No registered clinic that a worker can run to in case of emergency. You can hardly see safety shoes, no helmet, no hand gloves. You can’t be working like this in the construction industry,” he mentioned.
He mentioned the agency collects main authorities contracts with out contemplating staff welfare.
“They are collecting major contract from government. And you can’t collect such contract without first considering that workers have welfare,” he mentioned.
Okoro mentioned building staff have proper to freedom of affiliation and to belong to NUCECFWW as an affiliate of NLC, stressing he is not going to watch members endure and not using a situation of service.
The union chief mentioned the picketing will proceed till the corporate agrees to dialogue and implements NJIC situations relevant to all building staff in Nigeria
“If they are not ready to discuss with us, we will continue to stay here till tomorrow. We will not shift until the right thing is done,” he mentioned, including that with out formal situation of service, households of deceased staff can not get compensation as firm denies employment relationship”.
None of the corporate officers confirmed up to answer the allegations leveled by the employees.
