100,000 workers lose jobs in construction industry – Unions

THE two unions in the nation’s construction industry, National Union of Civil Engineering Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers, NUCECFWW, and Construction and Civil Engineering Senior Staff Association, CCESSA, weekend in Lagos, said no fewer than 100,000 workers have been sacked by Multi-National Corporations, MNCs, and indigenous contractors over government refusal to pay for completed and certified projects in the last one year.

At a joint briefing, the two unions claimed that not less than N100 billion debt remained unpaid to these contractors by both Federal and state governments, and appealed to government to release money to these contractors to save the industry and suffering workers.

Speaking on behalf of the two unions, President of CCESA, Dr. Augustine Etafo, said as part of the plans to attract the attention of government to the plight of the workers, the union would hold a peaceful protest rally in Abuja, where all the construction sites would be shut down for a day.