Workers in Nigeria’s oil industry under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), on Tuesday, threatened to embark on industrial action over what they described as “nefarious activities” of multinational oil companies.
The President of NUPENG, Igwe Achese, who said this in a statement therefore asked the federal government to compel the multinational oil companies to abide with Nigeria’s labour laws.
The Union specifically complained about treatment being meted out to workers on contract employment with some oil firms.
Specifically, Achese accused the oil firms of dealing with the contract workers with impunity and non-conformity while not complying with the best practices.
“These current actions are all efforts geared towards sabotaging the economy of the country and to impoverish its citizenry, particularly the contract workers in their system.’’
He also recalled said that the anti-union policies and decisions remained unresolved, despite past interventions by the NNPC, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
“It is sad to note that 14 months after discussions, the issue of Chevron contract workers who transited into new contracting companies is yet to be resolved.
“We made several attempts at re-opening discussions on the outstanding transition issues but all to no avail.
“The union also has a running battle with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and their contractors over unionisation of contract workers as well as putting in place a collective bargaining agreement.”
The NUPENG President added that the Union had placed its members nationwide on notice, to mobilise for a total shut-down of activities in the oil and gas industry.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.