The nation’s economy faces an early shock this year as oil workers under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) are warming up for a three-day warning strike from January 11.
The implication will be fuel scarcity, as Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), an arm of NUPENG, will not lift products from depots for supply to retail outlets nationwide. Long queues are also likely to resurface at petrol filling stations across major cities, as the strike may create panic buying from anxious corporate and individual product consumers who will want to buy enough to last the period of the strike.
NUPENG had in December 2016 announced it would call out members on strike from January 9, 2017 in protest against ‘unresolved issues’ with some multinational oil companies operating in Nigeria. A ranking official of the union confirmed to BusinessDay on Tuesday that the action was being shifted to January 11.
According to the official, the national secretariat of the union, which had been on Christmas/New Year break, will resume this Thursday, January 5, and will need a few days for “mobilisation” of NUPENG branches and units nationwide for the action.
“We are resuming from the end-year break this Thursday. We need a little time to mobilise and organise our members. The strike will go ahead as earlier announced because the issues we raised with the multinationals are still lingering,” the official said, who craved anonymity.
Igwe Achese, president of NUPEN, who announced the oil workers’ planned strike in December 206, said it was the decision of the national executive council (NEC) of the union that met in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He said the three-day warning strike was preparatory to a nationwide strike if there was no intervention by the Federal Government.
Among the major issues alleged by the union were the total closure of the Chevron’ eastern operations through divestment and refusal to discuss the redundancy terms and its refusal to facilitate the formation of Chevron labour Contractors Forum to interface with NUPENG. Chevron’s refusal to allow workers to unionize is also causing industrial relations tension.
“The other issues include Tecon Oil Services management reneging on the communiqué signed with the union on offloading the severance benefits of its members working in the companies. Other unresolved labour issues involve Pan Ocean non-implementation of annual salary increase for NUPENG Members in the company from 2014 till date,” said Achese.
Achese said the oil workers would resist any divestment by the multinationals that “does not carry the union along, especially in OML 53 and 55 operated by Chevron and now OML 30,” adding that “whatever goodwill government has to encourage investors to come should not lead to job loses but job creation.”
Other issues alleged by the union for which it had earlier issued a 21-day ultimatum for the Federal Government’s intervention include “the non-payment of terminal benefits to 48 contract staff and 250 contract staff terminated in Lagos and Port Harcourt by the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC).
The union also mentioned an alleged “refusal of Exxon Mobil Producing to reinstate over 200 NUPENG members sacked through its directives to its labour contractors despite ultimatum jointly issued by NUPENG and the senior oil workers under the aegis of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
