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Bimbola Oyesola
Organised Labour has threatened to shut down the operations of Deli Foods over the alleged plan of the company to lay off over 300 workers without compensation.
The National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) accused the management of a clandestine ploy to sell the companies without considering the fate of the workers.
The President of the union, Lateef Oyelekan, in a telephone interview with Daily Sun, said the union will this morning (today) picket the head office of the company located around Ilasamaja area of Lagos State.
“It was our members working in the company that came here on Friday to alert us. According to them, all the plans have been concluded.
The company is owned by foreigners and what they are doing is to sell the company secretly and run away without settling the workers.
“I wonder why foreigners will want to maltreat and shortchange Nigerians in their own country. Whereas they cannot do such things in their countries.”
The NUFBTE President said the best practice according to the labour law was for the company to call the union for negotiation in order to determine the proper exit package for the workers.
Oyelekan noted that the company had initially stopped gratuity for the workers since 2012, adding that there has been a lot of anti labour practices in the company.
“There is supposed to be a process to shut down. The management have to discuss with the union, pay workers entitlement before handing over to any buyer and the buyer must be ready to take over the liability,” he said.
He however warned that the union will not allow any new buyer to take over the company if Deli Foods fails to settle the members of the union working in the company.
He stated that the union from today (Monday) will picket and shut down the operation of the company until the management heed the workers’ demand.
“We’ve sent letters to the Commissioner of Police, Director of DSS and the company on our planned action that they have to settle our members before handing over or face total shut down. Our members have been mobilised to resume at the company this morning.”
