ITUC-Africa Sounds Alarm Over Dangote’s Anti-Union Practices
The International Trade Union Confederation, Africa (ITUC-Africa) has issued a stern warning to the Dangote Group, pledging a continent-wide response if the conglomerate continues to violate workers’ rights. The statement, signed by General Secretary Akhator Odigie and released from ITUC-Africa’s headquarters in Lomé, Togo, expresses unwavering solidarity with Nigeria’s labour bodies, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), amid a heated dispute over Dangote’s alleged anti-union tactics.
ITUC-Africa condemned practices such as union-busting, casualisation, unsafe working conditions, and wage suppression as egregious flouting of both national and global labour standards, specifically breaching ILO Conventions 87 (Freedom of Association), 98 (Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining), 155 (Occupational Safety and Health), alongside Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution and the Labour Act.
The regional body declared a heightened state of readiness for comprehensive mobilisation should hospitals continue, framing these tactics as a continental threat that could set a precedent eroding labour rights across Africa.
- Key demands from ITUC-Africa include:
- Immediate halt to anti-union actions by the Dangote Group.
- Urgent unionisation of all workers across its operations.
- Government enforcement of compliance with labour laws.
Support from the African Union (AU) and ECOWAS in ensuring adherence to the Decent Work Agenda and Agenda 2063.
Akhator Odigie emphasized the seriousness of the situation, stating:
“We are on red alert for continental mobilisation… an injury to one is an injury to all.”
This escalation comes amid escalating tensions in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, where NUPENG and PENGASSAN, backed by the NLC, have already threatened strikes over Dangote’s union practices.