TUC affiliate pickets Abuja hotel over ‘unfair Labour practices’

On Monday, the Abuja Continental Hotel's workers publicly rejected unionization efforts, shouting "No to union" as the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria and the Nigeria Labour Congress protested outside the hotel citing alleged anti-labour practices. This unexpected clash added complexity to the labour dispute; however, the workers maintained they had not asked for union intervention and were uninterested in joining any union.

The Trade Union Congress and Nigeria Labour Congress, through their affiliates, accused hotel management of denying workers the right to unionize and engage in collective bargaining. Yet, some workers who participated in the picket claimed they were not kept informed of the dispute and questioned why labor was taking action purportedly on their behalf.

The workers displayed signs stating, "The union is not representing us," "We did not invite or request union representation," and "We are comfortable discussing employment matters directly; TUC does not speak for us." During an interview with journalists, the workers' spokesperson, Samuel Esiakpoyere, revealed that the employees were unaware of the disputed correspondence between the unions and the hotel management.

Esiakpoyere stated that the workers were not informed about any letters or disagreements and were not involved. He expressed concern that picketing could harm the hotel's business and, ultimately, harm the employees the unions claimed to protect, stating, "The management is doing their best, and we know that whatever we are going through is going to be a lot better.

It’s going to be a lot better. We don’t want the union to kill us in trying to help us." The Trade Union Congress, however, dismissed the workers' protest, claiming it did not represent all employees and that some union members had expressed interest in joining the unions but were allegedly being intimidated. TUC General Secretary Nuhu Toro stated that the labor center had initially sought dialogue with the hotel management on August 4, but the management responded that it might not be available for discussion until the end of November due to renovation work.

Toro emphasized, "By the time they are done with the renovation, all our workers will have died," and urged the hotel to resume negotiations. The TUC pledged to continue picketing until Friday, after which they would review the situation.