President General of Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Adewale Adeyanju has disclosed that the Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP) has ordered Integrated Logistics Services Limited (INTELS) and Associated Maritime Services (AMS) to pay the full entitlements including gratuities and terminal benefits of the 624 sacked members of the union.
The workers were sacked by INTELS and its subsidiary, AMS between late 2020 and early 2021.
Comrade Adewale Adeyanju disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen. He said the IAP ruling was communicated to the union through a letter dated September 13, 2021, by Mrs. O. U Akpan, Director, Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations, on behalf of Dr. Ngige.
According to the statement, the IAP, constituted by the Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige, after its findings ruled that the sum of N300,000 be used as a mode of calculation of extra gratuity to be paid for each completed year of service to redundant workers who have completed five years of service and above.
The panel also ruled that “All the contract staff/ employees seconded by the 3rd party to the 2nd party under their labour management contract namely; 599 contract staff affected by redundancy exercise conducted on November 30th, 2020, 8 contract staff affected by redundancy exercise conducted on 2nd February 2021, and 17 contract staff affected by the redundancy exercise conducted on June 15, 2021, are employees of the 2nd party; Intels Nig. Ltd.
“All the contract staff employees seconded by the 3rd party under their labour management contract namely; 599 contract staff affected by the redundancy exercise conducted on November 30th, 2020, 8 contract staff affected by redundancy exercise conducted on 2nd, April 2021 and 17 contract staff affected by redundancy exercise conducted on June 15, 2021, by 2nd and 3rd parties, are each entitled to be paid extra gratuity in addition to their terminal benefits by the 2nd party through the 3rd party; forthwith.
“The mode of calculation of extra gratuity to be paid by the 2nd party through the third party shall be: N300,000 for each completed year of service to redundant workers who have completed five (5) years of service and above; forthwith’
“N1.5million lump – sum to redundant staff/workers who have completed 1-4 years of service; forthwith.
“Redundant workers with less than one year but have spent a minimum of six months in service shall be paid on a prorated basis, forthwith.
“The contractual relationship between the 2nd and 3rd parties still subsist in all matters relating to and concerning this Award in the proceedings.
“The practice where an employer obtains a restraining order against a strike by its worker,s and proceeds, during the subsistence of the restraining order, to declare the restrained workers redundant and terminated is nothing but an unfair labour practice. The 2nd and 3rd parties thus in the conduct of redundancy exercises of 2nd April 2021, and 15th June, 2021 engaged in unfair labour practice.”
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