The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Wednesday picketed the premises of Shaanxi Construction Engineering Group Corporation, temporarily shutting down construction work at the new headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) located at Lugbe in Abuja.
The protesting workers described as dehumanising conditions of work the Nigerian workers were being subjected by the Chinese company.
It said that the mission was to liberate the workers at the construction company from continued enslavement.
There was initial resistance as the gate of the company was locked against the protesting NLC leadership and its picketing team but was later opened by the management.
The management of the construction company did not speak on the protest or respond to the allegations raised by labour.
Chinese government had undertaken to build the new ECOWAS secretariat as part of aid package to the community.
Addressing the protesting workers, General Secretary of NLC, Comrade Emma Ugboaja, expressed sadness at the alleged inhuman treatment meted to the workers at the construction site.
He said that the congress responded to complaint by the Federal Capital Teritory (FCT) chapter of the construction workers union over bad working conductions at the construction site.
He said the Chinese company engaged the workers on adhoc basis with no conditions of service attached nor any welfare or medical services in place.
According to him, due to the deplorable work conditions at the place, one of the workers, a driver, Mr. Augustine died out of neglect and lack of timely medical attention.
Regarding the demise of the driver, Ugboaja said “Mrs. Ruth Augustine migrated with her husband and family to Abuja to come and earn a living. Now the man in an effort to help build ECOWAS secretariat has ended up six feet down leaving his poor widow to face the vagaries of life, no pension, no gratuity, no food, no water and no explanation, where will help help come from.
“Every day we plead with government to provide minimal social security floor, to no avail. That is the challenge we have. This challenge is real.”
