Nigerian port workers have embarked on a strike that has led to massive backlogs of vessels and containers and soaring demurrage and storage costs in the APM Terminals at Apapa Port.
Vessels scheduled for discharge of cargo have remained stranded, while offloaded containers that need to be moved out of the APM Terminals have become backlogged after port workers downed tools over a dispute regarding a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the terminal’s management.
Leadership News reported on Friday that the dockworkers had refused to return to work, despite the intervention of the executive secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Emmanuel Jime, on Thursday. The strike action started when workers downed tools on Wednesday, shutting down the terminals after the terminal operator allegedly refused to review the bargaining agreement, which is usually reviewed annually.
“Confirming trapped containers and stranded vessels, the management of the terminal, in a notice to customers, a copy of which was obtained by Leadership, said the action embarked upon by the union would affect vessels’ turnaround time and cargo clearance from the terminals,” the publication reported.
The notice read: “This is to inform you that APM Terminals Apapa dock employees have currently embarked on a strike. This action is regrettable because the strike began unexpectedly.
“We recognise that the action would impact our customers, vessels, and the terminal as most operations are impacted by the union’s strike action, causing operational disruptions as a consequence of the lockout.
“However, be assured that there are ongoing deliberations and discussions between the management and the labour union in the hopes of reaching an alignment as quickly as possible.”
Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN) president-general, Adewale Adeyanju, said the executive secretary of the shipping council had met with the union to negotiate a resolution to the industrial action.
Adeyanju said the union had informed the council that unless APM Terminals called for a meeting on the CBA, the strike action would continue.
“The strike is still on. We are yet to resume. The NSC executive secretary just came as a statesman in the industry to see how he can broker peace between us and APM Terminals. But the strike action is still on. We are yet to reconvene to decide whether we will be calling off the strike; in fact, the terminal operator has not even been encouraging,” he told the publication.
He added that the managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko, had also attempted to intervene in the dispute.
Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders Importers and Exporters Coalition (SNFFIEC) said cargo owners were concerned about the accumulation of demurrage and storage charges due to the strike.
