Lagos – Mr Lateef Oyelekan, the President, National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) was on Tuesday honoured for bringing smiles to 27 workers who were unjustly sacked by Cadbury Nigeria Plc.
Oyelekan was honoured as the most-supportive leader, while the union was recognised as a most-supportive union by the 27 workers who were paid N150 million as severance package, after a legal tussle which lingered for five-and-half years.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the workers were employees of Starmark Nigeria Ltd, a cocoa-processing company in Ondo State and a subsidiary of Cadbury.
The workers were sacked on June 3, 2010 due to their demand for a collective and procedural agreement with the company’s management.
Mr Akinkuotu Adekunle, branch Chairman of the union and one of the sacked workers, explained that the problem was that the management of Starmark Ltd could not sack any worker, without due consultation with the national secretariat of the union.
“In 2008, management wanted to sack workers, but the in-house union resisted it and insisted that the national secretariat should be informed and carried along.
“The in-house union also resisted the continuous payment of N200 per employee as workers’ monthly medical allowance. We challenged the management until it increased the money to N1, 500,’’ Adekunle said.
He said that it was the in-house union’s demand for management to re-appraise the welfare of workers that led to the sack of the 27 employees as management refused to listen to them.
“We were sacked without pay, as was the tradition of most companies. The national secretariat reported the matter to the Ministry of Labour and instituted a legal action at the National Industrial Court (NIC).
“After two years, the case was transferred to the Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP), where the union declared a trade dispute against the company’s management, asking for our reinstatement and the payment of our outstanding salaries,’’ he said.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
Adekunle further said that the court ruled in favour of the workers, which the management appealed against and also lost.
He said that the NIC directed the management to reinstatement the workers and pay their entitlements.
Mr Moses Oloruntobi, one of the sacked workers, who presented the awards, said that it was in appreciation of the support given by the president and the entire union, to the workers.
According to him, it was an uncommon solidarity of fighting for justice for the workers who sought fairness and equity from the company, even in the face of lingering economic challenges.
Oyelekan commended the workers for their resilience during the crisis and for standing for their rights.
“If Black South Africans could lead the fight for majority rule in their country, why will the union not fight for the rights of its members?
“The struggle is not easy, but with patience and steadfastness, we will achieve our goals,’’ he said.
The union leader also said that the victory would serve as a lesson for those who may want to deny workers their rights and flagrantly abuse the nation’s Labour Laws.
He thanked the workers for their confidence in the leadership of the union, adding that it was an honour to fight for the common good. (NAN)