BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG
MARITIME Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, yesterday directed dockworkers in all the Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, support services in off-shore locations across the country to down tools and begin an indefinite strike from today over unpaid debt since 2007.

President-General of MWUN, Comrade Anthony Emmanuel Nted who disclosed this, alleged that the refusal of SPDC to settle unpaid debt owned Texlon/Royal Maritime Services Limited, the Stevedore company that employs the dockworkers for SPDC support services off-shore had resulted into untold hardship for the dockworkers.

He lamented that all meetings including the intervention of the Minister of Transport to ensure that the Shell pay the debt, yielded to result, stressing that all other affected companies had settled their debts.

Comrade Nted said specifically that all the Shell support services in off-shore locations in Lagos, Onne, Warri, Calabar and others places would be affected by the industrial action and vowed that such operations would remain paralysed until the debt was paid.

According to him: “This is how SPDC has been causing problems in the Niger Delta region, pitching communities against one another. This issue has been on since 2007. If you recall, last year if not for the intervention of the Minister of Transport and the Management of Nigerian Port Authority, NPA, we would have shut down the ports then. After the intervention other affected companies, paid.

But Shell has refused to pay the debt owned Texlon/Royal Maritime Services Limited who is the Stevedore Company that employs dockworkers. Because of this debt, the affected dockworkers have been passing through untold hardship and are finding it difficult to meet their responsibilities to their families and dependants.”

“So, we have directed all the dockworkers in Shell support services in off-shore locations to begin an indefinite strike from Monday (today) until further notice. That is, until all the outstanding debts from 2007 till date is paid. We can no longer accept this situation where a company will behave as if it is bigger than this country.”