The out-going President-General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Adewale Adeyanju, has stated that shipping companies operating in the country have agreed to implement a N200,000 minimum wage for maritime workers.
According to him, “The initial refusal of Messrs. Hull-Blyth Nigeria Limited has now been settled. The shipping company has changed its mind on its initial refusal and has agreed to pay the N200,000 minimum wage. They even wrote to us twice concerning their change of mind.
“A meeting was then called by the management of Messrs. Hull-Blyth Nigeria Limited and MWUN, where we all had a good understanding of the matter.
“It wasn’t that we couldn’t muscle with the shipping company if they had insisted on their refusal, but since it has rescinded its decision and agreed to be part of the N200,000 minimum wage agreement, there was no need for any issue anymore.
“As I am talking to you now, the implementation of that signed agreement is ongoing at the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC). The constitution of the implementation committee is happening at the NSC, and we are very much on top of the matter,” he explained.
Recalling that rallying workers for the rejection of the Port and Harbour Bill by the National Assembly was the most challenging period of his administration, Adeyanju said “So, when we came on board, we introduced what we call a state of emergency in shipping because the workers in shipping were not well paid while the companies were making a hell of a lot of money by increasing their tariffs. But today, we now have what we call a minimum standard in shipping.
“The seafarers have their NJIC as well, both locally and globally. And we have had improvements in their wages. Then you talk of NPA. The salary and wages of the workers in NPA were not reviewed for almost 18 years.
“But now they’ve reviewed the salary of NPA. And as I’m talking to you now, they are about rounding up and reviewing the salary properly. So, we’ve touched all four branches”.
