ENL DOCKWORKERS AND DANGOTE TRUCK OFFICERS CONTINUE THE STRUGGLE FOR COMPENSATION

(y Chinedu Bosah, Publicity Secretary, CDWR

Dockworkers of ENL Consortium and Truck Officers of Dangote Cement Plc continue the struggle for compensation after both managements violated working conditions and agreements reached with workers. ENL violated the condition of service reached with the dockworkers in May 2008 to pay time wage of N33, 000 and has so far owed many workers 8 years’ salary. Workers began protest in March 2016 after it became obvious that ENL was not interested in paying the affected dockworkers their accumulated time-wage salary.

Dangote Cement Plc entered into agreement with Truck Officers in February 2017 to manage one truck each and to be paid performance bonuses, N60,000 salary, medical allowance and to own the truck after the trucks being managed have covered 400,000 km each. Aside salary that were paid regularly, performance bonus was paid just once while other benefits were not paid. The management ended up forcing the workers to manage 6 trucks on the average without commensurate increment in wage and allowance and this violated the contract. To add more insult to injury, workers of Ibese Plant of the company were forced to resign at gun point on February 4, 2017 by armed policemen and soldiers while workers of Obajana plant were also threatened.

Affected workers of both companies numbering about 1500 workers have since been thrown into labour market with no compensation. Since the disengagements, dockworkers and Dangote workers responded by staging several public protests. The affected workers consolidated the protest by filling a suit at the National Industrial Courts (Lagos Division) in May 2017 to challenge both managements. After several adjournments, a ruling on the preliminary objection raised by Dangote Cement Plc was delivered on March 20, 2018 by Justice Mustapha Tijani who struck out all objections and the trial/hearing is to commence on May 23, 2018. The ruling on the preliminary objection raised by ENL Consortium against the dockworkers is scheduled for April 30, 2018.

From the onset, comrades of the Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR) and Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) have been giving active solidarity to the struggle. CDWR and DSM hereby call on the management of ENL Consortium and Dangote Cement Plc to immediately meet the demands of all affected workers.