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Workers of Daewoo Construction Limited, engaged at the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC), have staged a protest within the refinery premises against what they described as suppression and denial of their rights by the company’s management.
The workers, under the aegis of the National Union of Civil Engineering, Construction, Furniture, and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), accused Daewoo of preventing them from unionising, depriving them of employment benefits, and unfairly terminating contracts without recourse to due process.
The workers are also protesting the sack of 30 workers without justification, worrying that more job losses is imminent if unionisation was not enforced.
Speaking during the protest, the Senior Deputy General Secretary and Head of Industrial Relations at NUCECFWW, Comrade Ayo Balogun, said the union had made several attempts to engage Daewoo on the matter but received no response.
“We have been trying to unionize these workers for nearly four years, but the management has ignored our letters, even when we copied all relevant authorities,” he said.
Balogun added that unlike Daewoo workers in Bonny and Port Harcourt, who have collective bargaining agreements, those in Kaduna lack conditions of service.
“Most of them do not even have employment letters; they are treated as casual workers,” he said.
The Vice Chairperson of the NLC in Kaduna, Comrade Martha Haruna, who stood in for the state chairman, described the situation as “demonisation of workers.”
“The workers are being suppressed. They are not allowed to join a union, and their welfare is neglected. When there’s a need for an update in welfare, the management refuses to act,” she said.
Haruna said efforts to engage Daewoo’s management in dialogue had proved fruitless, leaving workers with no choice but to protest.
“Every worker has the right to join a union, but Daewoo’s management has consistently blocked them. Our call to them is simple: allow these workers to exercise their rights,” she added.
Kaduna NLC Youth Leader, Comrade Ibrahim Dodo Enoch, said the workers had every right to belong to a union, arguing that a lack of representation leaves them vulnerable to unfair treatment.
“You cannot just be sheep without a shepherd. When you have a union, that is how you can bargain for your rights,” he said.
Enoch called on the leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to intervene, warning that failure to unionise workers could disrupt ongoing projects.
“If they want work to continue smoothly, they must allow these workers to join the union,” he said.
He further revealed that the company recently sacked 30 workers without justification, adding that more job losses were imminent if unionization was not enforced.
“Currently, there are nearly 300 workers under Daewoo, and they have already sacked 30. Without a union, who will fight for them?” he asked.
The protesters however vowed to sustain the picketing until their demands were met.