The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has expressed worries over automation of port services, saying members might be forced to suffer job losses if not carried along in human capacity building for workers.
Deputy President General (DPG), MWUN, Comrade Harry Tonye, who disclosed this recently at  the 3rd JournalNG Port Industry Town Hall meeting held in Lagos, expressed concerns that the rapid introduction of technology and innovations in the maritime domain would lead to  job losses.
He advised the relevant government agencies and other stakeholders to ensure that such technological advancement aren’t at the expense of maritime workers.
The DPG, who harped on upskilling of workers in the four components of the union, expressed doubts about job sustainability when the ports would be fully automated, noting that the union is open for discussion on the need to train workers to enable them fulfill modern trends in port operations.
According to him, employers of labour in the port community should focus on manpower and human capacity development in line with international best practices, stressing that shipping line agencies, terminal operators and government agencies like the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) have not been able to build capacity of workers to meet up with the dynamism of the automation system in port operations.
Tonye reiterated that port automation in line with the mandate of the blue economy is a guise to reduce the workforce by contract and outsourcing to few individuals at the detriment of maritime workers.
He stated that sustainability and job security is of utmost importance in order to maintain harmony in the industry.
According to him, “We have been talking about automation, and as good as automation is, it also has its own disadvantages. One of such disadvantages is that it is going to affect a lot of workers in the maritime space.
“MWUN is a major stakeholder in the maritime industry. Therefore we look at automation as a guise to reduce the workforce. That is  why we are looking at automation as a good thing, and we are also looking at it from the other way as a process to take the job that is supposed to be done by human beings”.
Tonye recalled that the port concession of 2006 affected members of the dockworkers branch of MWUN which in turn led to total reduction of labour employees in the industry.
He also noted that the concerns of the union is based on protection of workers’ job, adding that technology is mostly acceptable by the service providers but that the workers will also key into the technological advancement to protect jobs of Nigerians through capacity building for them.

By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos