Workers of the Abuja Continental Hotel on Monday rejected attempts by organized labour to unionise them as the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) picketed the hotel over alleged violations of workers’ rights.
The workers publicly opposed the union action during the protest, chanting that they did not want union representation.
Some also carried placards stating that the unions were not representing them and that they preferred to handle employment matters directly with the hotel management.
The development created a dispute over who speaks for the hotel’s employees, with the workers saying they were not consulted before the labour unions intervened.
The workers’ spokesperson, Samuel Esiakpoyere, said employees were not aware of the alleged exchanges between the unions and the hotel management.
He said the workers should have been involved in any discussions because the dispute concerned their employment and welfare.
Esiakpoyere said the workers believed the hotel management was making efforts to improve their welfare.
He warned that prolonged picketing could affect the hotel’s operations and eventually put the jobs of employees at risk.
He said the workers were therefore opposed to the attempt to force unionisation on them and insisted that they were comfortable discussing their employment concerns directly with management.
However, the TUC rejected the position of the protesting workers, arguing that those who spoke against unionisation did not represent the entire workforce.
The TUC General Secretary, Nuhu Toro, said some employees had expressed interest in joining the unions but were allegedly being intimidated from doing so.
Toro said the labour centre had first attempted to resolve the matter through dialogue. According to him, the TUC wrote to the hotel on August 4 seeking a meeting over alleged violations of workers’ rights.
He said the hotel responded that management might not be available for discussions until the end of November because of renovation work taking place at the facility.
Toro said the delay was unacceptable to the labour centre, which subsequently decided to begin the picketing exercise.
He said the unions were demanding that hotel employees be allowed to freely join unions and participate in collective bargaining. He also referred to Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, which protects the right of citizens to peaceful assembly and association.
Toro said the picketing would continue throughout the week and would be reviewed on Friday. He added that the TUC remained willing to return to the negotiating table if the hotel management agreed to dialogue.
The TUC general secretary also dismissed claims that the hotel management was unaware of its earlier correspondence with the labour centre. He said the union had documents showing the letters exchanged between both sides and had also made the documents available to security agencies.
The dispute is being pursued by the Hotel and Personal Services Senior Staff Association, an affiliate of the TUC, and the National Union of Hotels and Personal Services Employees, an affiliate of the NLC.
The National President of the Hotel and Personal Services Senior Staff Association, William Adegbe, accused the hotel management of discouraging union activities and alleged that workers had faced restrictions over their right to association.
Adegbe claimed that similar concerns had arisen at other hotels linked to the same ownership group. He alleged that employees were being denied access to proper conditions of service and opportunities to associate with labour organisations.
He also alleged that some of the workers who rejected the unions during Monday’s protest had done so because they feared losing their jobs.
The hotel workers, however, maintained their opposition to unionisation, creating a sharp disagreement between them and the labour organisations that say they are acting to protect their rights.
The dispute is now centred on whether the workers are freely rejecting union representation or whether some employees are being prevented from joining organised labour.
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