The Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has suspended the strike at APM Terminals at Apapa Port after port workers resolved some of their wage issues with the terminal operator on Friday.
Nigerian port workers embarked on the strike action that led to massive backlogs of vessels and containers and soaring demurrage and storage costs in the terminal last week.
Vessels scheduled for discharge of cargo remained stranded, while offloaded containers that needed to be moved out of the terminal became backlogged after port workers downed tools on Wednesday. They were locked in a dispute with the terminal’s management regarding a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
According to Leadership Nigeria, MWUN president-general, Adewale Adeyanju, said the strike had been called off after the union had met with the management of APM Terminals.
Adeyanju said the union and the terminal operator had reached an agreement to resolve some of the issues regarding a review of the CBA, adding that workers had agreed to resume operational activities.
He commended the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the executive secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, for their swift intervention to “save the nation’s economy from collapse”.
The union was committed to ensuring industrial peace and harmony in the shipping industry, Adeyanju added.
Port workers embarked on the strike after APM Terminals allegedly refused to review their CBA, which is supposed to be reviewed annually.
