We Have Prepared Members Against Threat of Digitalisation – Maritime Workers Union
MWUN President
By Francis Ugwoke
Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has said that it has prepared its members against the threat of job losses brought about by digitalization in the ports industry.
Noting that digitalization removes the need for physical employment in some cases, the President General of the Union, Prince Adewale Adewanju said the response has been to nudge members “in the new direction of artificial intelligence and programming to provide an advantageous foothold when the inevitable occurs”.
Adewanju who spoke on the occasion of the a Townhall Meeting organised by the League of Maritime Editors and Publishers last week identified digitalization as transforming maritime operations not only the port and shipping business but changed the global geography of trade.
He added, “there are many who have still not fully understood and fully embraced all the real and concrete opportunities and advantages digitalization can bring to work and the future of work”.
However, the MWUN President who was represented by the Deputy President, Comrade Oniha Odigie said digital evolution has been shaping the maritime future in every aspect and all its segments, including the old operational models.
He added that the consequence of huge amount of data behind maritime transactions and transport operations arose the need for digitalization, stating that an increasing availability of data has entered an exponential growth of automated processes.
He said the response of the Union to the change away from manual means of information collation was to prioritize digital training of members across every cadre to enable them acquire new skills deployable to existing new technologies thrown up by the digitalization process.
He noted that the effect of digitalization and transformation on maritime operations include optimization which implies maximizing efficiency, reliability in existing processes to cost of trading and translates to reinventing logistics, trade and business models.
According to him, the foregoing trend stimulated the Union to ensure not only access to these services but also participation in the business as service providers, while ensuring that members retain and remain in employment.
He said that to this effect members of the union have been trained to the extent that male and female operate mobile cranes brought by some terminal operators.
“These machineries and a host of other innovations were before now completely alien to our post operations. But because we had to defend our livelihood, we rose to the occasion and trained to be able to handle these machines. Today, as a direct consequence of the introduction our work style has been greatly impacted to the extent that we now have professional mobile crane operators, male and female alike, we have vessels pilots deploying latest technology and handing in best practice to our managers. We are better prepared and ready to meet with global advancement. Indeed, to avoid a regulation gap we have had to puyt in mind the need to be fit for the technologies of today and perhaps that of tomorrow”, he said.
Adewanju was also honoured with a Meritorious Award for peace in the dock labour industry while the former Controller of the Federal Operations Unit, Comptroller Usman Yahaya, received the award on his efforts in anti-smuggling war of the Nigeria Customs Service.
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