STRIKE: NUPENG, PENGASSAN give 21-day notice over anti-labour practice

..as NUPENG, PENGASSAN give 21-day notice over anti-labour practices

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) have threatened to embark on a nationwide strike if some industrial issues, especially anti-labour practices by some employers in the oil and gas industry were not addressed within 21 days.

President, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers, Comrade Igwe Achese, gave an indication of a possible fuel scarcity in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, after the union National Executive Council meeting held in Abuja, should the warning strike not headed.

He said the union, after its NEC meeting, has taken a decision to stop fuel supply to Abuja and its environs.
According to him, NUPENG has resolved to shut down supply of petroleum products to Abuja in the next 24 days unless the Federal Government prevails on the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) to pay the entitlements of workers of Sea wolf, who were disengaged since 2013 after AMCON took over the company.

He pointed out that the union had issued a directive to petroleum tanker drivers, and all its members in the oil sector to appear in all-red outfit in preparation for the planned industrial action in Abuja.

He said: “For four years, we have been discussing the issue of redundancy or closure of the company called Sea wolf, which AMCON, as a federal agency, took over in 2013.

He said,“It is very unfortunate to state here that workers of the company have not been paid. AMCON has refused to pay these workers their terminal benefits since 2013. Therefore, the union, in a very strong revolution, is requesting the government to prevail on AMCON to pay the workers. We have written series of letters to the security agencies, the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Department of State Services and others over the issue.”

He said, AMCON, instead of paying the affected workers, “took the matter to court’ and we have since then been are faced with series of adjournment since 2013.”

He said,“We, therefore, have no choice than to write an open letter to the Acting President to take all necessary measures to address the issue of Sea wolf. However, we have issued notice to the government in the letter that we wrote that failure to address this problem, the National Executive Council, NEC, in session, has taken a decision that within two weeks within which if the issue is not addressed, NUPENG will withdraw our services into Abuja and around its environment.

The union leader said,“At this point we are also directing all our PTD, workers across the entire country to begin to wear red, and tanker drivers to carry this on their trucks in readiness for this struggle; it is the responsibility of government to make sure that workers in the companies that they took over are paid their terminal benefits.”

However, PENGASSAN said in a statement by its Public Relations Officer, Comrade Fortune Obi, that the 21-day ultimatum giving to stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, was necessary, due to persistent anti-labour practices by the management of some companies in the sector.
Also, the association, therefore, called on the relevant stakeholders to address issues of concern affecting its members within the stipulated days to avert the consequences of its next line of action.

The statement read in part: “PENGASSAN in the last three years has not only been excessively stretched, but equally unnecessarily over-burdened; and is fast running out of patience over the loss of will by various managements to attend to industrial/welfare issues.

“Particularly frustrating is the sustained, deliberate and indiscriminate redundancies, sack, casualization, ill-treatment, adverse work condition, incessant disagreement to collective bargain resolutions and other anti-labour practices against our members by these managements without recourse to extant labour laws.”

The PENGASSAN identified in particular, Fugro, Sterling Global, Indorama Petrochemical Company, Baker Hughes/General Electric, Universal Energy, Frontier Energy, Vam Onne, Neconde Energy and ObiJackson Group, SDF, Ciscon, Tecon, Obax, Pan Ocean, NNPC Retail Limited, Exxon-Mobil and Petrobras, as some firms that were guilty of anti-labour laws.

PENGASSAN spokesperson said that the association has directed the Zonal Executive Councils, in the four zones of Port Harcourt, Lagos, Kaduna and Warri, to commence systematic mobilization of its members for the planned action.

He said that the association also called on leadership of the National Assembly to reconsider the amendment of NLNG Act which, the association alleged, would portend danger in Federal Government’s push to woo investors into the country.

PENGASSAN also commented on certain provisions of the just passed Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) by the Senate that need revision to address some labour concerns, adding that the association observed that labour unions, especially the PENGASSAN and NUPENG, were over-looked in the membership composition of the governing boards of the regulatory entities in the bill.

Obi said that PENGASSAN is a body of professionals, who are best equipped to access and make inputs to policies in the petroleum industry by the virtue of their positions and in-depth knowledge in the Industry.

PENGASSAN also said it has observed with dismay, the loose of condition of service with regards to job security/transfer of employment of staff in the existing agencies. adding that it will resist any attempt under whatever guise to downsize or short-change Nigerian workers.