Shabby treatment of Dockers triggers mass demonstration at Douala Port

Dockers at the Douala Sea Port has vowed to ground activities at the port till further notice, if President Paul Biya does not intervene and resolve their problems.

The over 400 Dockers are infuriated by the shabby treatment given to them by importers and exporters, yet the staff of the Douala Port Authority has remained blind to their plights and suffering.

Before embarking on a sit-in strike action on May 11, the Dockers under the Dockers Union, tabled a 12 point demand to importers and exporters under whom they work, asking for a fixed salary for all Dockers, an insurance cover, family allowances, a special card and for them to be considered as staff of the Douala Port Authority and not placed under importers and exporters, who, they said doesn’t care about their wellbeing.   

The restive workers said there are the engine of the Port because they do the difficult jobs like, loading and offloading of goods at the port, loading and offloading of ships and also loading goods into warehouses and trucks.

After downing their tools, the Senior Division Officer (SDO) of Wouri, Joseph Bertrand Mache Njouonwet, the Divisional Officer (DO) of Douala I, Jean Marc Ekoa Mbarga on the instruction of Littoral Governor, Samuel Dieudonné Ivaha Diboua, held series of meetings with the Dockers in other to resolve the problem, but the meetings ended in a deadlock, when the Dockers realised that the administrative officers were struggling to trick them into calling off the strike when their problems have not been provided adequate solution.                            

The Dockers’ strike has, however, exposed the atrocious conditions under which Cameroonians at the Port are subjected to.