Court dismisses dockworkers’ suit against port terminal operator

Werner Ahiakwo

National Industrial Court sitting in Port Harcourt, on Thursday, dismissed a suit filed by Dock workers in Port Harcourt Port TERMINAL against Port TERMINAL operators Nigerian Limited

The trial judge, Justice Polycarp Hamman dismissed the suit based on the inability of the claimants to prove that they were permanent workers of the company by providing their permanent appointment/employment letters in that regard.

Justice Hamman opined that the sacked workers failed to establish any relationship between them and the defendant.

He said the court can not grant them their prayers when they are not permanent staff, adding that what the workers submitted to the court during the pendency of the suit were Temporary Appointment letters instead of permanent letters of job offered to them by the company.

According to him, there was no way the court could grant them their prayers for the payment of the new minimum wage that was sought based on the Temporary letters they submitted.

Justice Hamman, however, refused to award any cost against any party in the matter and also held that the claimants were entitled to file the suit despite not adhering to the remediation clause in the agreement entered between the two parties which were some of the grounds opposed by the defendant.

Earlier in an interview with newsmen, counsel to the Dockworkers, Uche Ogwudu said the judge hinged on the inability of his clients to produce their permanent appointment letters and dismissed the entire suit.

He said he will study the judgment in order to advise his clients on way forward

Also speaking, counsel to the defendants, Angus Obinna Chukwuka lauded the court on the judgement, adding that the inability of the sacked workers to produce any permanent document before the court made there demands inefficient.

He said that the court upheld their submission that the claimants were not permanent staff of his client and hence, they were not entitled to their demands.

One of the affected workers and second claimant in the suit, Mr Samuel Ochegba described the ruling as unacceptable, adding that they will appeal the judgement.

He used the opportunity to call on the federal government to look into the maritime sector so as to correct the wrongdoings in the sector adding that they had worked for over ten years without the issuance of permanent appointment letters by their employer.

Our correspondent reports that the Dockworkers approached the National Industrial Court in 2013 to among other things ask the court to order the defendants to pay them all their entitlements arising from the payment of #33.000 minimum wage as approved for Dockworkers by the federal government across the nation which the court dismissed.