Workers Seek FG’s Intervention after Sacking for Joining Union in Ondo

. Union says termination violates labour laws

Fidelis David in Akure

No fewer than 20 workers of Plantation Industries Limited, Akure in Ondo State yesterday appealed to President Bola Tinubu, the Senate

President, the Minister of Labour and Employment, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and other relevant authorities to intervene in what they described as their unlawful dismissal for participating in trade union activities.

The affected workers, including all seven newly inaugurated union executives, alleged that they were sacked barely three weeks after the National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) formally inaugurated a branch of the union in the company on May 27, 2025.

According to them, trouble began shortly after NUFBTE’s state and national officers, S. Ojo, Adeola, and late Azeez Abdulazeez, visited the factory for the inauguration.

“Immediately after the union leaders left, the management began to intimidate us.” 

“They issued a consent letter insisting that only the executives could regard themselves as unionized members. When we refused to sign, they turned against us,” one of the dismissed workers alleged.

The workers further claimed that on June 19, 2025, the company invited union officials again for an official introduction of the caretaker executives to top management. However, shortly after the officials departed, the company’s Managing Director, Mr. Kunle Ayoade, allegedly terminated the employment of 20 staff members, including all elected union officers.

Since the mass dismissal, the aggrieved workers said they had attended several meetings convened by the Ondo State Controller of the Federal

Ministry of Labour and Productivity, the union, and the company’s management.

They alleged that while the company initially admitted that the termination was “illegal,” it has refused to pay redundancy benefits as directed by the state controller. The case has since been escalated to the

Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in Abuja for further intervention.

In a joint petition, the sacked workers pleaded with President Tinubu, the

Senate President, the Minister of Labour and Employment, the NLC, and NUFBTE to intervene in the matter.

“We are pleading with the federal government, the NLC, and NUFBTE to save us from this act of wickedness and oppression. We only exercised our constitutional right to belong to a trade union,” the petition read.

Besides, in a letter dated June 21, 2025, addressed to the Human

Resource Manager of Plantation Industries Limited, NUFBTE also condemned the company’s action, describing it as “an unlawful termination of employment and an unfair labour practice.”

The union, in the letter signed by its state Secretary, Ojo, reminded the management that Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) guarantees every citizen the right to freely associate and belong to a trade union.

“While an employer may terminate employment, it must not violate any statutory provision or relevant labour law.

“We demand the immediate reinstatement of all employees whose appointments were unlawfully terminated. If the management fails to reverse its decision, our union will deploy every legal machinery available to ensure justice,” the union wrote.

The letter was copied to the National President and General Secretary of NUFBTE, the Federal Controller of Labour and Employment, and the Ondo State chairman of the NLC.

The affected workers said they remain resolute in their demand for justice, insisting that they would not rest until their entitlements are paid and their rights respected.

Meanwhile, efforts to reach the company’s Managing Director, Mr. Kunle Ayoade, for comments were unsuccessful as of press time.