NLC pickets Chinese construction firm over alleged ‘slave labour’
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Wednesday led its affiliate, the National Union of Civil Engineering Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW), to picket Chinese-owned Wizchino Engineering Company Limited…
The Nigeria Labour Congress, the country's main umbrella body for organised labour, regularly deploys picketing as a pressure tactic against employers accused of violating workers' rights, often working through its sector-specific affiliate unions such as the National Union of Civil Engineering Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers. Chinese-owned firms operating in Nigeria's construction and infrastructure sectors have repeatedly faced accusations from unions of underpaying local staff, resisting unionisation, and imposing harsh working conditions that labour leaders describe as exploitative, though the companies involved often dispute such characterisations.
This action against Wizchino Engineering Company in Abuja adds to a recurring pattern of friction between Nigerian labour institutions and foreign contractors, particularly in a construction industry that relies heavily on Chinese firms for government-backed road and building projects. The coverage from Tribune Online and ThisDay agrees on the key facts — the NLC-led picketing of the company on Wednesday — but neither report, as summarised, details the specific allegations beyond general references to poor labour practices, nor do they indicate what demands the union has made or how the company has responded.