The Campaign for Democratic and Workers Rights, CDWR, has condemned the alleged victimisation of key workers’ leaders by the management of Mouka Foam.
This is as it called on the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, to intervene in order to save the workers from being oppressed.
In a statement by Mr. Rufus Olusesan and Mr. Chinedu Bosa, national chairperson and national publicity secretary respectively, CDWR said some of the leaders of the workers in the company had been unlawful sacked and others given punitive transfers.
The group alleged that the vice president of the National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non-Metallic Employees, NUCFRLANMPE, Femi Alawoyin, and the chairman of the Mouka branch of the union, Adeyemi Johnson, were callously sacked because they led workers agitation for improved working conditions some months back.
The secretary of the union in the company, Abosede Adams, CDWR also stated, was punitively transferred from Lagos to Aba while the Assistant Secretary Godwin Okon was transferred from Lagos to Ibadan in view of their participation in agitation of improved condition.
“These attacks were carried out as part of an orchestrated plan to intimidate workers and behead the union.
“We support the ongoing strike by the workers to protest the victimization and attempt to behead workers union in the company.
“The strike was actually triggered by the attempt by the armed police, numbering over 100, invited by the management invaded the company’s premises to arrest the labour leaders in Mouka. This was vehemently resisted by workers,” CDWR said.
The group said workers had embarked on a five-day strike in March 2021 to compel the management to implement the salary increment of N9,000 as agreed.
It said there was an agreement not to victimize workers for taking part in March strike but after a few weeks management started victimizing workers, leading to sacks and punitive transfers.
The group said at present, the contract and outsourced workers were about 300 compared to regularized workers who were about 136 workers.
According to the CDWR, the management was doing everything possible to convert all the workers to casual workers in order to enable it further enslave workers and make more super profit.
The CDWR called on the management to immediately recall the alleged victimised workers leaders, reverse and stop all forms of victimization, meets the demands of workers for improved pay and conditions and end casualisation and contract staffing in Mouka Limited.
“We also call on the national secretariat and leaders of the National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non-Metallic Employees (NUCFRLANMPE) to intervene in this ongoing struggle and support the demands of workers with all seriousness that it deserves. “We also call on Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to intervene in the struggle. Nigeria workers in Mouka Foam need all the solidarity to defeat vicious management.
“We call on workers to sustain the struggle and be assured of solidarity support from the Campaign for Democratic and Workers Rights, CDWR,” the group added.
