By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

Maritime Workers  Union of Nigeria, MWUN, will today begin an indefinite strike over lingering disputes with government, following inability of government to resolve the issues.

President of the Dockworkers branch of MWUN, Mr. Adewale Adeyaju, confirmed last night that the strike would commence as planned because government had failed to meet the union’s demands.

Recall that ahead of the commencement of today’s strike, the union had, weekend, notified NPA Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, and the Terminal Operators on the looming shut-down of all ports’ formations nationwide.

The workers are asking the government through the NPA to address the lingering issue of Tally Clerks/On-board Security, minimum standard for dockworkers and NPA staff welfare matters, among others.

It was gathered that despite several ultimatums and agreements, the government had concluded plans to do away with the tally clerks/on-board security despite their importance to ports’ operations and national security.

According to the union, the latest ultimatum to government to address the issues of the tally clerks/on-board security, among other pending issues, expired Monday, December 15, and had decided to put operators on notice so that they would not be caught unawares.

An officer of the union confided with journalists that the strike would commence today after the President-General and some other leaders of the union would have come back from a foreign trip.

In a letter to NPA by the union dated December 12 and signed by Mr. Edwin Sambo, Deputy Secretary General (Admin), entitled “Notice to shut down the seaports,” the union wrote: “Please, be informed that the Union will be forced to close down the nation’s seaports if the under- listed issues which are affecting our members are not addressed before Monday, December 15, 2014 – Tally Clerks/On-board Security, minimum standard for dockworkers and NPA staff welfare matters.

“These unresolved issues that mostly affect the take-home pay of our members have been pending, and consultations and meetings to date have not yielded any positive result. There are even situations where ultimatums have been issued and agreements reached at meetings were not respected for implementation.

“We also wish to inform you that our members are restive and no longer hold the leadership of the