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From Adanna Nnamano, Abuja
The Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) on Wednesday, picketed Shaanxi Construction Engineering Group Corporation, forcing the temporary shutdown of construction work at the new ECOWAS headquarters at Lugbe in Abuja.
The labor movement was protesting the working conditions of the Chinese company, which it described as inhuman.
It said that the mission was to liberate the workers at the construction company from continued enslavement.
Workers mobilized for the picketing of the Chinese construction company in charge of building the new ECOWAS office complex as early as 7.30 am at the NLC headquarters in Labour House.
The company’s gate was first sealed against the protesting NLC leadership and its picketing crew, but management eventually opened it.
The construction company’s management remained silent regarding the demonstration and the laborers’ accusations.
The Chinese government took up the construction of the new ECOWAS Secretariat as part of a community help package.
NLC General Secretary Comrade Emma Ugboaja spoke to the protesting employees and bemoaned the alleged inhumane treatment of the workers at the building site.
According to him, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter of the construction workers union complained to the congress about poor working conditions at the building site and that the Chinese company engaged the workers on adhoc basis with no conditions of service attached nor any welfare or medical services in place.
He lamented that Mr. Augustine, a driver who worked there, died from neglect and a lack of prompt medical assistance as a result of the appalling working conditions at the facility.
In order to resolve the concerns of their workers, Ugboaja stated that the labor leadership planned to engage Shaanxi Construction Engineering Group Corporation’s management in conversation while the picketing action was still in progress.
Ugboaja said: ” Mrs. Ruth Augustine migrated with her husband and family to Abuja to come and earn a living. Now the man in to help build ECOWAS a 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 come from?
“Everyday, we plead with the government to provide a minimal social security floor, to no avail. That is the challenge we have. This challenge is real,” he said.
According to Ruth, who narrated her ordeal, her husband was hired by the company in 2022 as a driver, but the terms of his employment prohibited him from returning home after work.
“He worked from Monday till Sunday. I asked him if they gave him bonuses for the overtime and extra work he was doing. He said no. My husband would work from morning till night with no food and he would not be allowed to come home. Even when he came home, he would not stay up to an hour before rushing back to the site.” The woman said.
Ruth claimed that the husband fell ill after returning to work in January following the holiday celebrations and worked at the company for two months without receiving medical care.
“When they eventually permitted him to go home, his situation had worsened. He was having a swollen neck and looking highly malnourished”, she said.
The woman said she took her husband to the Gwagwalada Teaching Hospital in Abuja and later to the National Hospital where he passed on.
In all these ordeal, Mrs Augustine said the Chinese company failed to heed her pleas for assistance. Instead she said that what she got was a termination letter for her husband.
