President General, Senior Staff Association of Shipping, Clearing and Forwarding Agencies (SSASCFA), Comrade Harrison Ugochukwu Asonye, in this interview with UZOR ODIGBO, discusses the works of his union, the state of the Nigerian ports, the impact of dwindling FX on port operations and other issues. Excerpt….
What is the numerical strength of membership?
The membership of the union is not stable because of its fluctuating nature. It can decline today or increase tomorrow because of the nature of our economy. Retrenchment, restructuring, promotion, redeployment and what have you cannot define our numerical strength now. If I should open the membership booklet now you will understand better because if as of January or February we have a particular figure as membership numerical strength, March and April will be different either by reduction or addition. So, it is improper to say we are this number or that figure. The simplest way to respond to this question is that a junior worker can be promoted to a managerial level today, and then he or she will become our member automatically. While a senior staff can retire from active service today also which is a reduction for us. So, the numerical strength cannot be categorically spelt out at the moment. But, if need be, I can request for the secretariat to give us the total number as of today.
Your union appears not to be popular in the maritime industry?
Really, it’s a two-way thing because, firstly, maybe before I came on board two years ago the union was not popular. It was not really known to players of the maritime industry but today, we are trying to revolutionize the union and we are trying to make ourselves known the same way our sister union is known within and out of the sector. I think our unpopularity can be attributed to the fact that our previous leadership didn’t really push for us to get the deserved recognition within and outside our industry. Especially as it concerns the regulators and stakeholders.
Tell us the relationship between MWUN and your union?
MWUN is like a bedrock for me because that is where I started my career as a unionist from. Anytime any day, MWUN is my second home, my foundation, my base etc. That is why, when I came on board as the PG of SSASCFA, I went to MWUN National Secretariat with my National Executives on a courtesy / Familiarization visit. And again, the President General of MWUN is a very good friend, brother and in-law to me. We have come a long way as far as the struggle is concerned. Wherever we meet we always remind ourselves of the nostalgic feelings. That is by the way. We have however agreed to work together for a common goal by synergizing on the best way to protect our members’ interests in all the companies. We are partners in progress anytime any day. I can’t pass by Osho Drive without stopping to pay an august visit to the union executives. MWUN is a cradle for me because that is my foundation, it is my evolution. My achievements cannot be complete without mentioning the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria. I always pay tribute to my former PG, Comrade Irabor, Shipping / Courier President – Comrade Edwin Ogboona of blessed memory, and other National officers then like Kalu of Panalpina, Prince Adeyanju Adewale who was the national Treasurer then, Com Uche Egwuonu, Com Afam Ubani of blessed memory and others. Today is Prince Adeyanju whom I call Omo Oba and my in-law as well thus we have come a long way like I rightly stated in this interaction. My union has a good working relationship with MWUN.
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Kindly tell us all we need to know about you as the President General of SSASCFA sir?
My name is Comrade Harrison Ugochukwu Asonye, by the grace of God, the President General of the Senior Staff Association of Shipping, Clearing and Forwarding Agencies (SSASCFA). I am an Apostle of Jesus Christ, a Godfearing man, nice, fun and friendly comrade. I believe in honesty and sincerity. I have good listening and communication skills, a creative mind and am always up for new challenges. I also believe in setting out goals and achieving such goals. My Association, as a matter of fact, is an Association of senior staff employees within the maritime industry. It’s a sister union to the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN). MWUN is basically for the junior employees within the maritime sector, while SSASCFA is meant for the Senior staff employees within the sector. I assumed duty as PG on the 19th of November 2020. Last year November 2021; we clocked one year in office. So, this is almost my second year in office as the President General of the union.
Can you share the antecedents of your predecessor because it appears nothing was achieved during their leadership of the union?
For me, I believe in forward ever and backwards never. I don’t want to go back to what transpired previously but I am here to resuscitate and revitalize the union and make meaningful achievements to project the image of this great union to the world at large and that it is exactly what we are doing now. Today, we are very popular with our various employers, today we are very popular with our labour centre which is Trade Union Congress (TUC), today we are very popular with the Ministry of Labour and Employment etc. However, very soon we will draw the attention of NIMASA, NPA, NIWA, Shippers Council and others within the industry about our existence and that is our projection for the year as part of revolutionizing the union.
How old is the union?
The Union was restructured under trade unions acts via TRADE UNIONS (AMENDMENT) (NO. 2), DECREE NO. 26 OF 1996, THIRD SCHEDULE PART C, line 13. At the time of registration, shipping was the trending name. Clearing and forwarding were added to the name so as to capture everybody in the maritime sector within the senior cadre. But, today, the name shipping is old fashioned since after the concession of the ports which split shipping into haulage, terminal operations, logistics, warehousing, inspection services etc.
How do you intend to familiarize your union with the critical players in the maritime sector?
Firstly, we have concluded plans to pay a courtesy visit to those regulatory bodies I mentioned earlier, and we don’t burst into people’s houses without informing them about our visits. So, the only way to go about it is to formally notify them about our visitation. However, we are going to write to those agencies for a familiarization visit formally in order to let them know about the visits. The response will further determine when and time.
Last year, if you can recall there was an invasion of five shipping companies in Lagos by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and we learnt that some workers were assaulted detained and personal effects whisked away, how can you react to this because it’s about six months that this incident occurred?
We are very much aware that this agency called Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission truly invaded five shipping companies in a commando style which we frowned at because we didn’t take it likely with them and we are also aware that workers’ personal belongings were intercepted. Things like telephone and laptops; then companies’ servers were cloned and we fought it on the pages of national dailies, we wrote to the Honorable Minister of Labour, Trade and Commerce reporting this particular incident. We also wrote to the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) about it and we did a series of follow up but we are 99% sure that those things collected from our members were returned back to them. But for the cloned servers by the Commission, I must say here that am not sure if they were deleted or not. The servers belong to our employers, and we are not to tell them what to do or how to go about redeeming whatever that have seen seized by the Commission. They also have a body that can fight for them, but our intervention and push suspended everything that they intended doing as at then. Today we are happy that workers have overcome that because they got all their belonging back.
What are the strategies put in place in the areas of workers’ welfare in the shipping sub-sector of the nation’s maritime space because cases of downsizing are the order of the day considering the harsh economic situation we are faced with?
As a matter of fact, this is one area we always apply wisdom because I believe sometimes that if we are five in number for example and my employers want to increase my salary for instance and lay off some other persons in the organization thus it will be better we all go back to the drawing board and look at the issue critically, by calling our employers to say instead of laying off these number of personnel why not give what am earning before so as to sustain or retain the ones you want to lay off because there is no salary that will be enough for those working. It is better for everyone to be employed and be as busy as they can than to lay off workers because when people are employed in our society then we can boast of a robust economy. Therefore, downsizing is not an option in any way.
Two years down the line, can you tell us about the challenges you are facing as PG of the union?
Most of the challenges we are facing are the issue of our employers trying to frustrate workers from joining the union and that is the major problem. There is a particular issue we are battling right now in Onne. They are fighting to ensure that we do not unionize their workers. Same also with a few others as well. Though we have reported the matter to the Ministry of Labour and Trade Union Congress on this issue. Also, another issue we are facing has to do with the economic challenges because every capitalist wants to maximize profit and by so doing they want to cut costs due to the exchange rate. The naira and dollar are also causing problems for these multinationals. As we speak our naira is valueless and is seriously impacting our economy negatively. There is a particular organization that is about to embark on restructuring. On our own part, we endeavour to strike a balance so that it will not appear as if we are antagonists to our employers but to have a good rapport with them. If management insists that they want to drop some workers then there must be a need for a roundtable engagement.
So how do you cope as the PG of the union and at the same time an employee of one of the multinationals?
First, God Almighty has always and He is still my strength. It has not been easy; God has been faithful. Also, considering my age as a young man in my mid-40s, I still have the strength and the vigour to move around. My blood is still pumping to get things done the right way. By so doing or having said that, I just must strike a balance because the world is a global village and that is why we must embrace digitization and digitalization. With the use of ICT, we can be able to meet up with the office demands and of course that of the union. We are at the Union’s secretariat as we speak, and I can also discharge some of my office assignments right here with my laptop. And basically, that is one thing that makes a difference. If there is a need for me to step out and do the physical aspect of the job, am always ready and available to deliver.
Kindly share some of the achievements recorded since you emerge as PG of SSASCFA?
They are apparently numerous, but I wouldn’t want to mention those achievements since we came on board because it wasn’t really a good experience when I emerged as the President general. I wouldn’t like to blow my trumpet at all but have it at the back of your mind that we today brought our secretariat to Apapa where the hub of maritime activities is. We have also strengthened our rapport with TUC which is our major labour centre. Clear the backlog of debts is another success story we have recorded. It’s a great achievement though. A Secretariat staff who was down with illness was also paid off despite meeting an empty treasury when we came on board. Equipping the secretariat is another success story and the list is endless considering where we are coming from. Today we have a good working relationship with our employers, members etc. They are numerous though we are still struggling to get things right.
Finally, what are your projections for the year 2022?
I believe in forward ever and backwards never. Like Martin Luther King stated, “I have a dream”; honestly, I have loads of dreams for this union and one thing I know that matters most as far as this union is concerned has to do with the capacity building of my members. You see training is key. We need constant training and retraining of our members and that is our vision. Both the national and units’ officers; members and secretariat staff need additional knowledge in line with their respective fields of endeavours in order to compete favourably with the global village. They should be able to know and understand what is obtainable globally. Before I came on board, I submitted a theme to the National Delegate committee tagged “Leading a union during Covid and post-Covid era”. Of course, you know Covid 19 came with lots of challenges. God has been our strength. Also, the health of our members matters a lot to us. We are working round the clock to make sure that we check the health status of our members yearly. We cannot shy away from the fact that at least twice a year we are to organize workshops for the officers and members to know more about our health condition and proffer solutions to any member that needs health services.