Members of steel workers under the umbrella of Steel Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria (SEWUN), picket plangeria over issues of redundancy against its staff
Jude Nzennaya, Port Harcourt
Members of the Steel Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria (SEWUN), Branch of PENGASSAN, Plantgeria Unit has on Monday, August 21 picketed the company over redundancy threat on their staff.
The workers who barricaded the premises of Plantgeria at Trans-Amadi were seen carrying placards with different inscriptions such as, ‘Stella Nwuju must go’, ‘Luigi Esposito must go’, among others and were demanding for withdrawal of sack letters issued to some of their members.
Fielding questions from journalists at the scene of the protest, the SEWUN Chairman, Plantgeria Unit, Comrade Amadi Prince Ichierise said the essence of the picketting is to protest against the unjust treatment meted out on their members by Plantgeria Management (Mgt), who he said issued letters of redundancy to their members without recourse to the Union, or following due process.
“A situation where management just woke up one morning and gave redundancy to about twelve of our members, including the Chairman and Secretary is not acceptable and is highly condemnable, “Prince said.
The Chairman vowed that if the planned meeting with the Zone on Wednesday does not yield result, they may be forced to totally shutdown operations of the company.
He queried the reason why management should issue redundancy letters to staff or their members without dialoguing with the Union.
Also speaking, the Chairman of PENGASSAN, Port Harcourt Branch, Comrade Chinda Amadi Omunakwe lamented that the Management of Plantgeria could send a letter directly to Zonal office of PENGASSAN, instead of the Branch first as supposed to be.
According to him, Management also went to Labour on the same matter, thereby shunning the Branch, which is against due process, hence the protest.
He reiterated that until proper thing is done, the picketing will continue.
Adding his voice, Secretary of the Nigerian Contract Branch,Comrade Igwe Stanley Nwachukwu said if management had followed due process, the protest would have been unnecessary.
He corroborated the position of other union leaders that it is totally wrong for their management to have bycotted the Branch to send letter to the Zone, informing them of the planned redundancy.
He accused their management of preparing the redundancy letters, even before notifying the Zone, stressing that the Zonal letter was sent on a Wednesday and exercise was carried out the next day.
“Based on that the Management must withdraw those letters that were maliciously written to relieve workers of their jobs.
Otherwise, the picketting will continue until management deems it necessary to dialogue with the Union, “Nwachukwu said.
The Chairman O.B Nig Gas Company, Comrade Raphael Chibuoso said their position is that all the so-called redundancy letters must be withdrawn and due process followed, pointing out that nobody is afraid or against redundancy, but they are insisting that the right procedure must be followed.
Attempts to hear from the Management proved abortive, as their gates were under lock and key as at the time of filing this report.
