Sacked workers of Mouka Foam were seen loitering around the company premises on Tuesday. They were hoping that they would be called back or compensated by the company for letting them go ‘unjustly.'
About 71 workers of Mouka Foam were sacked because some of them refused to work last week Thursday, due to the public holiday declared by the federal government to mourn the late President Umaru Yar'Adua, who died on 5th of May, 2010.
When NEXT visited the head office of Mouka Foam Limited on Tuesday, located at Plot ‘M', Awosika Avenue, Ikeja Industrial Estate, Lagos, some of the workers said they hope the company would rethink its decision; while others sat dejectedly by the gate.
A casual worker, who identified himself as Mr. Chibike, said, "On Thursday, the Federal Government declared a public holiday but the management insisted that we should work, but the union said that we should be paid before we work, since it is supposed to be a work free day. But, the management did not agree, so the union said we should go home since they did not agree. Only for us to come on Monday (10th May) and we were told that we have been sacked."
One of the former leaders of the workers' union at the Mouka Foam branch of the National Union of Chemical Footwear Rubber Leather and Non-Metallic Product Employees (NUCFRLANMPE), who craved anonymity, narrated that on the said day, the plant manager insisted that they must work, but they (former union leaders) pleaded that the management gives the workers some incentives, since they would be working on a day that had been declared work free.
"But the Management refused to heed our call, and so we told the workers that they can go and honour the memory of the late President if they want to go, and they can stay if they want to stay. They printed names of people that didn't stay and sacked them without notice. Some had spent years here, and some have been injured in the course of doing this work."
About 71 of the casual workers were sacked out of 99 casual workers. The 28 remaining workers were some of the workers that stayed behind," he said.
Mr. James, one of the workers who was not sacked, said they no longer have a union. The former union has been dissolved.
"So, nobody is fighting for them. They (Mouka Foam) used the police to chase them away from the compound," he said. Mr. Ikechi, also a casual worker that was sacked, cried out, "I have been working here for more than 3 years. It is shocking what they did to us. I don't know where to start from. I am a student doing part-time at the University of Lagos. How do I pay my fees now?"
A public relations officer for Mouka Foam, Agbo Agbo, in a phone conversation, said that the casual workers were not sacked because they refused to work on a public holiday. But that they decided to let some casual workers go because they have no need of them.
The President of The National Union of Chemical Footwear Rubber Leather and Non-Metallic Product Employees (NUCFRLANMPE), Boniface Isok, said that they are not aware of any problems their members may be facing at Mouka Foam.
A long standing cause
Although there have been less news on the struggle against casual staffing in the country, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said it has not yet relented in its effort to fight against the use of casual staff by companies and businesses in the country.
Denja Yaqub, the assistant general secretary of the NLC, defending the lull in the union's fight against temporary staffing, told NEXT in a previous report:
"Most people believe the NLC has lost the fight against casualisation because of the other struggles we have embarked on. The fight against casual or contract staffing by employers in the country is still on, and we are planning to take it up as a big issue from December to June, next year (2010).
"Casual workers are not entitled to be part of any trade unions, as they are not fully employed. This has been affecting the way the employers treat their staff, and the struggles for a decent workplace by the trade unions."
Mr. Yaqub maintained that the practice of engaging people in casual jobs infringes on the right of Nigerians to have decent jobs, adding that, "Section 42 of the Act empowers Labour to fight against it, and this is what we will do since the government has failed us."
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