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Mouka Foam Limited, has deplored last week’s protest and disruption at its Lagos headquarters,saying it was designed to embarrass and intimidate the company in order to justify the illegal act.
The company,in a statement,down played the reasons for the violent attack on the ground that it has a robust tradition of providing welfare benefits that go beyond the expected duty of care to the Mouka staff and their families.
The company is committed to investing in people to ensure capacity building and readiness for future career growth.
It said:”As a good Corporate Citizen, Mouka has also significantly contributed to the local communities in which it operates.As part of Mouka’s continuous improvement plans, the Company recently undertook a restructuring program which engaged almost 10% of the Mouka People across all employee grades and in all locations nationwide”
It added that the major objectives of this exercise were to strengthen operations and to provide career development opportunities for key deserving employees.
It said:”However, as it is the case with every progressive development in corporate organizations, a few will resent the change. Unfortunately, the resentment of the current few agitators does not align with the majority.
The event of Thursday, August 12, 2021, whereby a few staff who were agitating unjustly for some personal demands, staged a protest which initially started as peaceful but later degenerated into harassment and attack of other staffers who had refused to be recruited into this anti-operation activity. Even then, the company being a law-abiding corporate organization, maintains unprovoked stance even while the troublemakers continue throwing of stones and objects at distributors, visitors and other staffers of the company”
The company claimed that the following day, the agitating few had recruited some non-staff hoodlums to join the agitation and they became violent.
It said when the law enforcement agents who had all along been there to maintain peace and order could no longer bear the escalating attack on persons and an attempt to attack them, they called for reinforcement and effected the arrest of the few troublemakers.
The company expressed disappointed that the actions of a few led to some unfavourable scenes in the roadways outside of the premises and in the immediate community.
It added:”We want to state categorically, that Mouka management did not order for the arrest of any staff nor the violent few. However, despite the fact that the arrests have not been ordered by the management of our company, efforts are being made to resolve the issue provided the violent attack and the infringement of other workers’ rights ceases.
“Our hope is that reason and good conscience will prevail in the circumstance as our company continues to remain focused on investing in the careers and livelihoods of our loyal, committed, and dedicated employees”
The Campaign for Democratic and Workers Rights (CDWR) had last week condemned the victimization of key workers’ leaders by the management of Mouka Foam including unlawful sacks and punitive transfers.
The group claimed that the Vice President of the National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non-Metallic Employees (NUCFRLANMPE), Comrade Femi Alawoyin and the chairman of the Mouka Branch of the union Comrade Adeyemi Johnson were callously sacked because they led workers agitation for improved working conditions some months back.
It also alleged that the Secretary of the union in the company, Abosede Adams, was transferred from Lagos to Aba while the Assistant Secretary Godwin Okon was transferred from Lagos to Ibadan.
The group further alleged that currently, the contract and outsourced workers are about 300 compared to regularized workers who are about 136 workers.
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