Clamour for Redress Pits Nigerian Workers against Chinese Employers

Adibe Emenyonu writes on the current face off between Yongxing Steel Company and its Nigerian workers over the latter’s demand to set up a union to address allegations of unfavourable working conditions

Yongxing Steel Company is a manufacturing enterprise that produces steel for building and constructions. It is located at Ogua, a community in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State by the bypass in Benin City. The company began operation in 2013, and since then grew in bounds with over 700 workers, and 10,000 indirect jobs that produces various kind of steel products such as iron rods, electrodes coil wire and binding wire.

Waste to Wealth

No doubt, the firm is a “waste to wealth” establishment with raw materials derived from waste metals considered otherwise as problem in the environment.

“We empower people to gather these waste metal and use technology to recycle them and produce some of the best products that are used in the construction industry”, said the Managing Director, Mr, Frank Wang at a special media briefing.

Wang, who was represented by the company’s Chief Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ben Den, noted that Yongxing is not only creating employment, but cleaning the environment and contributing immensely to the construction sector which is considered very vital to a growing economy such as Nigeria.

Drumming Support for Investment

It was against this backdrop that the CEO of the steel company drummed support for other investors to take advantage of Nigeria’s growing economy to invest in the country.

While expressing the firm’s willingness to support the country, he stressed that challenges in Nigeria is not enough reason for investors not to take advantage of its huge population and the growing economy to invest.

“I want to use this opportunity to encourage other foreign investors not to run away from Nigeria. There is no economy that does not have difficulties. Our duty is to support the nation in her efforts to surmount those difficulties. Those of us in the construction sector, we need to be more patient with Nigeria. Nigeria is a growing economy and will continue to grow.

“With the huge infrastructural gap in the country, the construction sector will continue to grow and any foreign investor in that sector is not likely to regret at the end,” he started, adding that investors who are shying away from investing in the country, particularly in the construction industry, will live to regret it in future.

CSR and Internal Welfare

Wang further said that since its inception, the company has through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) been able to take care of both its internal and external clients – employees, host community as well as carry out public functions to assist the Government of Edo State, and the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).

For instance, he said at the heat of the COVID-19 last year, it donated palliative worth N120 million to the state government, local banks and friends including sanitisers and face mask, as well as donated to 50 market shops and water borehole to its immediate host community, Ogua.

Not left out he said are orphanage homes, Idogbo Secondary School, UBTH and the Police Zone 5 Command where they donated food items, chairs and desk, medical supplies respectively.

On worker’s welfare, he said management of the company has instituted long service awards for employees that have put in three years and above to encourage them, as well as good healthcare facilities in cooperation with authorities of UBTH for staffers especially when factory accidents occur.

Besides, he said workers of the company are provided with free accommodation, 24 hours electricity, water supply and relaxation facilities as well as training- both local and foreign to ensure efficiency.

Deep Disaffection

However, beyond these self appraisals and publicity stunt, lie deep disaffection between the company and larger members of its workforce over unionism.

The first sign to show that all is not well with those who have daily contact with the company is the surrounding. Even the road to its corporate headquarters and factory is dotted with potholes, and waste water from the factor by the sides of the road, leaving one driving in and out of the premises to wait for any on-coming vehicle to first go before assessing the place.

It is in this surrounding with makeshift structures that some of the workforce stay, breathing contaminated air fouled by the pollutants from the factory.

Dissenting Voices over Clamour for Union

That notwithstanding, the workers are polarised between the majority agitating for a union, and the minority who said they do not want union; which findings show are being backed by management of the company.

Speaking on the issue of establishing an in-house union for workers, Mr. Wang who initially disclosed that the industrial dispute between management and the workforce is under control, however, noted that “in the Nigerian Constitution, union is a choice”, adding ” I have not met any staff who said he wants to join union. My idea of union is that they want money from their fellow staff”.

Wang’s opinion was also amplified by one of the anti-union workers, Mustapha Mohammed, who said in the course of interactions that “we don’t want union. Everything we need, the company provided so we don’t need union because they are like Civil Society Organisation (CSOs) who come to cause trouble and destroy”. However, when asked if he has appointment letter, he was not forthcoming with any answer.

Airing their minds, the company workforce at loggerhead with management of the company over the quest for unionism, anchored their reasons on the maltreatment on the part of the firm in their quest to continue to oppress workers.

Speaking to journalists outside the company’s premises, the Vice Chairman of the Local Steel and Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria, Comrade Emos Iorsang, disclosed that since August 19, 2021, a good number of them agitating for inhouse union have been locked out by management of Yonxing Steel Company

He said the worker’s reason for a union is to have a collective voice to fight maltreatment, discrimination and the injustice going on there.

For instance, he said since the company began operation in 2013, none of them have been given letter of appointment but just an identity card in the guise that they are staff, whereas any of them that suffers factory accident is left to his own fate.

According to Iorsang who was surrounded by his colleagues when he was addressing journalists, “the issue we have with the company is that the management is maltreating us. When any factory accident occurs, the management will not care. Since 2013 it started operation, workers do not have letter of appointment, including those they made to counter our agitation.

“We are treated as casuals. We are calling on the parent body to come to our aid because since August 19, the company locked us out simple because we demanded union to prevent maltreatment.”

National Steel Union’s Unsuccessful Intervention

Nevertheless, Comrade Kassim Kadiri, National Secretary of National Union of Steel and Engineering Workers of Nigeria reacting to the face off between the organisation and its workforce, said the challenges the union is having with the management of Yonxing is its refusal to allow the workers join the National Union of Steel and Engineering Workers
According to him, “We got to know about the company in 2013, and we have tried to unionise the workers, but what they did was to organise some workers inside the company, who said that they don’t want a union. We wanted to meet the management, but they kept turning us around until 2014 when we declared a trade dispute against the management.

“Along the line, the Ministry of Labour in Edo State intervened. One Mr. Igbiniovia was sent by the ministry to mediate and in 2O15, we signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the parties.”

Among the agreements reached, he said, were: ” (a) recognition of the union by the company; (b ) that the management and the union should sit and discuss, so that the union can be formally inaugurated. The management didn’t honour this agreement until we declared another trade dispute in 2018.”

He further noted that by some intervention, the parties reached an agreement on the modalities for a union but expressed surprised at the sudden u-turn by the company management, pointing out that Edo State government has set up another committee to look into the industrial dispute in the company.

Whatever is the situation, it is of utmost worry why some Chinese firms operating in Nigeria are allegedly in the habit of oppressing Nigerians working in their companies to the extent of turning them into second class citizens, whereas back home in their country, such does not exist.

Back home in China, as findings have revealed, there is the All-Chinese Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), officially founded on May 1, 1925 with 277 delegates members. Presently, the federation led by Wang Dongming, comprises 1,713 primary trade union organisations.

According to statistics, by 2005, the ACFTU of China has 134 million members, 193 million in 2008, 250 million in 2012, and 302 million in 2017.

Besides, information also revealed that the ACFTU of China is affiliated to the International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) otherwise know as World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) with representatives in 163 countries.

With the following information therefore, the question to ask is: why does Chinese companies who are affiliated to trade unions back in their country come to Nigeria to suppress unionism?

The ball this time falls squarely on the court of Governor Godwin Obaseki who should tell it to their face that they cannot come to Nigeria and begin to play double standards because both Chinese government and the laws of Nigeria recognise labour union, an association of workers in a particular trade, industry, or company created for the purpose of securing improvements in pay, benefits, working conditions, or social and political status through collective bargaining.