The United States multinational oil corporation, Chevron seems to be in trouble after the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) threatened to embark on industrial action against the company for sacking about 500 workers.
In a statement jointly signed by NUPENG’s President and General Secretary, Williams Akporeha and Afolabi Olawale respectively, the union threatened to ground Chevron’s operations for sacking the workers.
The union, in the statement, gave the oil company a seven-day ultimatum to recall the dismissed workers, including members of its executives affected by the exercise.
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“Should Chevron Nigeria Limited and its contractors fail to honour or comply with our demands within the next seven days, we would also not hesitate to take all necessary legal options available to us; including industrial actions,” NUPENG said in the statement.
What you should know: NUPENG claimed that Chevron reneged in an agreement one year after a negotiation was brokered by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) and the Ministry of Labour.
According to the statement, stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, including labour unions, had a protracted discussion with Chevron on the company’s plan to sack more than 70% of its workforce.
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The discussion subsequently led to the reduction in the number of those Chevron planned to dismiss to 30%. The exercise cut across various units in the organisation and affected members and non-members of petroleum workers unions.
It is on record that out of the 1,856 contract staff in Chevron, NUPENG has 1,120 members, 213 are Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) members, while the non-unionised workers are 523.