NUPENG, and its Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff
Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, will today begin an
indefinite nationwide strike, to protest the inability of the
government to carry out Turn Around Maintenance, TAM, of
the refineries and reduce pump prices of petroleum products
in line with the slump in global prices of crude oil.
Other grievances include delay in the passage of the
Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB; non-implementation of the
Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development, NOGICD,
Act to reflect Nigerians in management positions and
expatriate quota law; appalling state of access roads to
refineries and oil depots’ facilities and insecurity in the
country that has led to the death of members.
Other complaints are appointments in government agencies
in disregards to succession planning, compulsory deduction
from workers’ salaries for the National Housing Fund, NHF;
casualisation and contract staffing and unfair labour
practice by companies and government agencies.
The grievances also include termination of appointment of
the Port Harcourt Zonal Secretary of the association by
Total Exploration and Production, Total E&P, Nigeria
Limited; 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 is obtained in other agencies in the oil and gas
industry and refusal of the management of Addax/Petrostuff
Nigeria Limited and Chevron/Sudelletra to recall sacked
staff.
The oil workers issued a 14-day ultimatum to government
October 31, 2014, threatening that at the expiration they
would no longer issue any notice to government because
the issues had been protracted and government and other
affected companies had not shown any commitment to
addressing the workers grievances. .
The unions had issued a statement that all levels of the
unions had been fully sensitised and mobilised for the
inevitable industrial actions that would affect every value
chain in the upstream, midstream and downstream of the oil
and gas industry.
Vanguard gathered that ahead of the strike, branch leaders
of the two unions met at the zonal levels in Lagos, Port
Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna and had set up joint monitoring
committees to ensure the strike is effective.
On crude oil theft
On crude oil theft and acts of vandalism, NUPENG and
PENGASSAN alleged high level collaboration of the security
agencies, politicians and highly placed Nigerians in the
buccaneering racket of oil and gas installations and the
resultant crude oil theft, lamenting that the ugly trend
signified a looming extinction of the oil and gas industry
with attendant job losses.
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