Abuja Continental Workers Reject Union Move As TUC, NLC Picket Hotel

Workers at Abuja Continental Hotel openly rejected moves to unionise them on Monday as the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria and the Nigeria Labour Congress picketed the hotel over alleged anti-labour practices.

The confrontation left two competing accounts at the centre of the dispute. The unions accused the hotel management of blocking workers from joining trade unions, while workers at the hotel chanted against unionisation and said they had not asked for the intervention.

Punch reported that the workers chanted “No to union” during the picketing. Daily Post reported that TUC members blocked the hotel entrance with placards accusing the management of preventing workers from exercising their right to associate.

The unions said the protest was meant to defend workers’ freedom of association. The workers’ public rejection of the action, however, made the hotel dispute more complicated than a normal picket.

Access to the hotel was disrupted during the protest, according to the reports.

Sources: Punch, Daily Post