The
Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has
concluded plans to embark on a three-day warning strike in protest against the
delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and other anti-labour
activities of employers in the oil and gas sector.
The
warning strike follows the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum issued by the
National Executive Council (NEC) of PENGASSAN to the federal government and
other concerned employers’ and agencies in the sector.
It
said the ultimatum had
since expired without any meaningful resolution or
commitment from either the government or the concerned employers’ and agencies at
resolving the issues.
A
statement issued by the oil workers union said all organs of the union have
been fully mobilised for the industrial actions that will affect every value
chain in the upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas industry.
The anti-labour
activities listed by the oil workers include, retardation of staff promotion in
the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), non-standardisation of
nomenclature and collective bargaining agreement of the Nigerian Nuclear
Regulatory Agency (NNRA), in line with what obtains in other agencies in the
oil and gas industry, refusal of the management of Addax/Petrostuff Nigeria
Limited and Chevron/Sudelletra to recall sacked staff, Petrobras managment
unprocedural release of staff and its refusal to renew expired collective
agreement and the unjust termination of appointment of the Port Harcourt Zonal
Secretary and Treasurer of PENGASSAN and NUPENG respectively.
Other
issues are the perilous state of the nation’s strategic and industrial roads
and highways, non-beneficial deductions of National Housing Fund (NHF) from our
workers, un-abating measures of addressing pipeline vandalism and crude oil
theft, and divestments by International Oil Companies (IOCs) without clear
guidelines to check the resultant arbitrary job losses and heightening
insecurity of members/families in the troubled parts of Northern Nigeria.
The
union noted that plans are at the final stage with its sister union, the
Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), to mobilise
members for a nationwide industrial actions that will disrup operations in the
oil and gas sector until the federal government show genuine intention to
earnestly attend and resolve the issues of industrial dispute.
The
union explained that the purported termination of the appointment of its Port
Harcourt Zonal Secretary, the NUPENG Zonal Treasurer was an ill-conceived act
of victimisation by their employers and which the NNPC, Federal Ministries of
Petroleum Resources and Labour and Productivity, the Department of Security
Services (DSS), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) had advised their
management against this act but they remained unbending.
On
crude oil theft and vandalism, PENGASSAN alleged high level collaboration of
the security agencies, politicians and highly placed Nigerians in the
buccaneering racket of oil and gas installations, adding that the ugly trend
signifies a looming extinction of the oil and gas industry with attendant job
losses.
The
association described the deduction from workers’ salaries for the National
Housing Fund (NHF) as sheer exploitation and demand that the deduction should
be stopped forthwith, warning that it would resort to whatever necessary action
it deems appropriate to protect its members from further exploitation of the
non-beneficial policies that has serve no member’s interest in the sector.
Thisday
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