Bimbola Oyesola
Workers in the chemical sector of the economy are presently protesting the lock out and planned mass retrenchment by the management of NYCIL chemical company in Sango Ota, Ogun State, an action considered anti labour and against the constitution of Nigeria at this critical period of COVID-19 pandemic.
The workers who called off their protest on Monday due to the intervention of the President of the National Union of Chemical Footwear Rubber Leather and Non Metallic Products Employees (NUCFRLANMPE), Mr. Goke Olatunji, have resumed the protests as early as 6a.m today and vowed that they would ensure there would be no discussion until the management opened the gate of the company.
The two unions in the sector, NUCFRLANMPE and the Chemical and Non Metallic Products Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (CANMPSSAN) are teeming up to ensure that other subsidiaries of the company across Nigeria are shut down in solidarity with the workers’action.
The NUCFRLANMPE President, lamented that the company’s action was in violation of the recent agreement signed between the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), the employers body and the Organised Labour represented by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) with the support of the Federal Government and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
“There’s an understanding that no employers must embark on retrenchment due to COVID-19 as it is a global phenomenon and no worker should be made a sacrificial lamb, but rather the unions and the management must find a way out through dialogue and negotiation,” he said