The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) on Monday picketed the Abuja Continental Hotel over alleged violations of workers’ rights, including the denial of unionisation and collective bargaining.
The action brought union leaders and workers’ representatives to the hotel premises after the TUC said repeated attempts to resolve the dispute through dialogue had failed.
TUC Secretary-General, Nuhu Toro, said the union had exhausted peaceful avenues after writing to the hotel management on August 4.
“The issue is very clear. Workers are being treated as slaves at Abuja Continental Hotel. Their rights are being violated,” Toro said.
According to him, the hotel management responded that discussions could not take place because the facility was undergoing renovation and would only be ready to engage the union after November.
Toro rejected the explanation, saying workers’ rights should not be suspended for months because of renovation work.
“How does that make sense? We are talking about workers’ rights being violated, yet the matter is being postponed until the renovation is completed,” he said.
He said the immediate demand of organised labour was for workers to be allowed to freely unionise and engage in collective bargaining, rights he said were guaranteed under Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution.
“We are here to exercise our fundamental right and press our demand that they do have a right to unionisation and collective bargaining,” Toro said.
The TUC secretary-general said relevant correspondence between the union and hotel management had been made available to the police and the Department of State Services (DSS).
He, however, stressed that the union remained open to dialogue.
“The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, under the leadership of Comrade Engineer Osifo, is ready to dialogue. If they want to dialogue now, we are ready,” Toro said.
Toro said the picketing would continue until Friday, when the union would review the situation, adding that the TUC remained committed to resolving the dispute peacefully.
Union alleges wider dispute
National President of the Hotel and Personal Services Senior Staff Association (HAFSA), William Adegbe, alleged that the dispute extended beyond the Abuja hotel, claiming similar unionisation problems had occurred at the Continental Hotel in Lagos.
“Continental Hotel has a history. The same thing happening here in Abuja is happening at the Continental Hotel in Lagos,” Adegbe said.
He alleged that workers had been denied unionisation and access to conditions of service following the takeover of the hotel by new investors after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They have established this place like a slave camp. Their members do not have access to any form of condition of service and do not have the right to associate,” he said.
Adegbe said HAFSA and the National Union of Professional Service Industries (NUPSI) had written several letters seeking dialogue with the management but were allegedly ignored before the matter was escalated to the TUC.
“Our letters and pleas for a meeting with the management have been ignored. That was why we escalated the matter to the labour centre, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria,” he said.
He also alleged that some workers were intimidated during the picketing and urged the TUC to defend their rights.
Workers’ representatives reject union claims
However, workers’ representatives presented a different account, distancing themselves from some of the allegations made by the unions.
Their spokesman, Samuel Esiakpoyere, said employees were unaware of the alleged correspondence between the unions and hotel management.
“To the best of our knowledge, this matter affects us. If there are correspondences, how many are there? We have not seen anything,” Esiakpoyere said.
He said workers believed management was making efforts to improve their welfare and appealed to the union not to take actions that could disrupt hotel operations or threaten employees’ livelihoods.
“The management is doing its best, and we know that whatever we are going through is going to get a lot better. We do not want the union to kill us while trying to help us,” he said.
Esiakpoyere urged the union to pursue its demands without disrupting operations or jeopardising workers’ livelihoods.
“We are saying no to unionisation,” he said.
