About 1500 workers of Lacasera Company Plc, makers of Lacasera soft drink and other consumable, have been sacked following unionisation of staff with the National Union of Food Beverage and Tobbacco Employees, NUFBTE.
Officials of NUFBTE and workers gathered at the Amuwo Odofin Industrial Estate, Mile 2 in Lagos premises of the company on Monday, vowing not to leave until the workers were recalled and all pending issues resolved, the situation which the management said it shut operations over alleged invasion by hoodlums.
Sources said that the Indian-owned company which started operation in Nigeria in 2000, has been having a running battle with NUFBTE over unionisation of workers since 2004.
It was gathered before now that the union had approached the Ministry of Labour and Productivity for mediation, while the management dragged the Union to the National Industrial Court, NIC.
The latest dispute, sources said started when the management sacked the elected chairman of the in-house union as the officials of the in-house union were about to be inaugurated.
The sack, according to one of the sources, led the NUFBTE officials to visit the company on Friday, September 11 to address the workers, which the management described as invasion by hoodlums.
Leaders of the union are however insisting that they would continue to occupy the gate of the company until all pending issues were resolved.
An unsigned notice pasted on gate of the company dated September 14 and addressed to all staff stated that “as a result of the unwarranted breaking-in and invasion of our business premises on September 11, we cannot guarantee the well-being of our employees from hired hoodlums and their collaborators.
“As a result of this unprovoked act of vandalism, we are unable to continue operations. Unfortunately, we regret to inform all our staff of their immediate disengagement.”
Mike Olarenwaju, Head of Education Department in NUFBTE, who spoke for the workers, said that for 12 years, the company denied workers the right to be unionised, adding that when an in-house union was about to be inaugurated, the management of the company sacked the chairman.
“We were surprised today that the company locked the gate and sacked the workers. Meanwhile, the case between the workers and the company over unionisation is currently at the National Industrial Court,” he said.
Olanrewaju urged the government to intervene in issues of unfair labour practices being perpetrated by foreign companies.
He said that until the workers were re-absorbed, the union would continue to picket the company.
Idowu Adelakun, the state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), said that the act of calling labour officials hoodlums was wrong and vowed that labour would not allow the company to function until the matter was resolved.
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