Why We Shutdown Abuja Continental Hotel , TUC

By Moses John

The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has said that the congress shut down Abuja Continental Hotel due to am alleged violations of workers’ rights, including the denial of unionisation and collective bargaining.

The picketing, which brought union leaders and workers’ representatives to the hotel premises, followed what the TUC described as failed attempts to resolve the dispute through dialogue.

Secretary-General of TUC, Mr Nuhu Toro, said the union had exhausted avenues for peaceful resolution after writing the hotel management on August 4, insisting that the alleged violations could no longer be ignored.

“The issue is very clear. Workers are being treated as slaves at Abuja Continental Hotel. Their rights are being violated,” Toro said.

According to him, management responded that discussions could not take place because the hotel was undergoing renovation and would only be ready to engage the union after the end of November.

Toro rejected the explanation, saying workers’ rights could not be put on hold for months on account of renovation work.

“How does that make sense? We are talking about workers’ rights being violated, yet the matter is being postponed until the renovation is completed,” he said.

He said the immediate demand of organised labour was for workers to be allowed to freely unionise and engage in collective bargaining, stressing that such rights were guaranteed under Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution.

“We are here to exercise our fundamental right and press our demand that they do have a right to unionisation and collective bargaining,” he said.

Toro added that relevant correspondence between the union and hotel management had been made available to the police and Department of State Services (DSS), while stressing that TUC remained open to dialogue.

“The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, under the leadership of Comrade Engineer Osifo, is ready to dialogue. If they want to dialogue now, we are ready,” Toro said.

He said the picketing would continue until Friday, when the union would review the situation, adding that TUC was committed to resolving the dispute peacefully.

Also speaking, National President of the Hotel and Personal Services Senior Staff Association (HAFSA), Mr William Adegbe, alleged that the dispute was not peculiar to the Abuja hotel, claiming that similar unionisation problems had occurred at Continental Hotel in Lagos.

“Continental Hotel has a history. The same thing happening here in Abuja is happening at the Continental Hotel in Lagos,” Adegbe said.

He alleged that workers had been denied unionisation and access to conditions of service following the takeover of the hotel by new investors after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“They have established this place like a slave camp. Their members do not have access to any form of condition of service and do not have the right to associate,” he said.

Adegbe said HAFSA and the National Union of Professional Service Industries (NUPSI) had written several letters to the hotel management seeking dialogue, but were allegedly ignored before the matter was escalated to the TUC.

“Our letters and pleas for a meeting with the management have been ignored. That was why we escalated the matter to the labour centre, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria,” he said.

He further alleged that some workers were intimidated during the picketing and called on TUC to defend their rights, stressing that HAFSA and NUPSI were jointly handling the dispute.

“Our mandate is to defend workers anywhere in Nigeria. That is why the Trade Union Congress has come here to demonstrate that the workers’ concerns are genuine,” Adegbe said.

However, the workers’ representatives presented a different position, distancing themselves from some of the allegations made by the unions.

Mr Samuel Esiakpoyere, spokesman for the workers’ representatives, said employees were not aware of the alleged correspondence between the unions and hotel management.

“To the best of our knowledge, this matter affects us. If there are correspondences, how many are there? We have not seen anything,” Esiakpoyere said.

He said the workers believed management was making efforts to improve their welfare and appealed to the union not to take actions that could disrupt the hotel’s operations or threaten workers’ livelihoods.

“The management is doing its best, and we know that whatever we are going through is going to get a lot better. We do not want the union to kill us while trying to help us,” he said.

Esiakpoyere urged the union to pursue its demands without disrupting the hotel’s operations or jeopardising the livelihoods of the workers.

“We are saying no to unionisation,” he said.