The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Wednesday picketed Chinese-owned Wizchino Engineering Company Limited in Abuja over alleged anti-worker and anti-union practices accusing the company of denying Nigerian workers their labour rights and subjecting them to poor working conditions.
The protest led by the NLC and its affiliate the National Union of Civil Engineering Construction Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW) followed what union leaders described as repeated unsuccessful attempts to engage the company on workers’ welfare safety and conditions of service.
Addressing protesters the Acting General Secretary of the NLC Comrade Benson said companies operating in Nigeria must comply with the country’s labour laws and respect workers’ right to freedom of association.
He alleged that Wizchino prevented workers from joining unions lacked a proper pay structure and failed to provide adequate health and safety conditions.
‘We understand that Wizchino Company embarks on slave labour. It does not permit workers to unionise. There is no pay structure. There is no law and order here. No health and safety conditions’ Benson said.
He warned that the NLC could mobilise its affiliate unions for a wider shutdown if the company failed to negotiate with the construction workers’ union.
‘We will be here today we will be here tomorrow we will be here the day after. And if necessary all the affiliate unions of Nigeria Labour Congress are going to be here’ he said.
Benson said the picketing was peaceful and intended to compel the company to engage in dialogue warning that the labour movement could pursue both industrial action and legal remedies.
The President of NUCECFWW Comrade Stephen Okoro said the union had written several letters and repeatedly visited the company to discuss workers’ conditions but alleged that management ignored its requests.
Okoro who is also an NLC vice-president accused the company of using mobile police personnel to intimidate union representatives.
He further alleged that workers were not provided with basic protective equipment including safety shoes helmets and hand gloves.
‘Can you be working like this in the construction industry?’ he asked.
Okoro said two workers had recently died raising concerns about the company’s alleged lack of adequate healthcare facilities. He claimed there was no registered clinic where workers could seek emergency treatment.
He said the absence of formal conditions of service could complicate efforts to establish responsibility and secure compensation in cases of workplace injury or death.
‘Today we have come to put in place conditions of service that can tie everybody both the worker and the employer’ he said.
Okoro said the union would continue the picketing until the company agreed to negotiate and address workers’ concerns including salary issues.
‘We are not here for violence. We are here to free our brothers who are working here’ he said.
The General Secretary of NUCECFWW Comrade Ibrahim Walama said workers from other construction companies and NLC affiliates had joined the protest in solidarity.
He said workers had a right to join unions and demand better welfare regardless of their employer.
‘One million of us cannot stop Nigerian workers from belonging to a union. They have the right to belong to a union and they have the right to their welfare in the place of work’ Walama said.
He added that the action would continue until the company addressed the union’s demands declaring that Nigerian workers should not be treated as enslaved people.
Also speaking the NLC Deputy General Secretary Comrade Bello Ismail said affiliate unions’ participation reflected organised labour’s collective support for the construction workers.
He said workers had the right to organise join trade unions and negotiate their employment conditions.
The unions said dialogue could resolve the dispute if the company agreed to meet their representatives and address the allegations.