The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) is set to suspend its nationwide strike following the intervention of the Federal Government in the ongoing dispute with the management of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
The truce was announced in a communiqué signed by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Muhammad Maigari-Dingyadi, following a two-day conciliation meeting held in Abuja on Monday and Tuesday.
The meeting brought together the National Security Adviser, Ministers of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, and State for Petroleum (Gas), alongside the Department of State Security (DSS), and labour leaders.
It would be recalled that the conciliation was convened after PENGASSAN directed its members to stop gas supply and withdraw services from the refinery.
According to the communiqué, the meeting resolved that unionisation is a fundamental right of workers under Nigerian law and must be respected by the company.
It was further agreed that the management of Dangote Group should immediately begin the redeployment of the affected workers into other subsidiaries within the group without any loss of pay.
The meeting also resolved that no worker would be victimised for participating in the dispute between PENGASSAN and the company.
PENGASSAN in turn agreed to commence the process of calling off its strike, while both parties pledged to implement the resolutions in good faith.
Backstory
On Sunday, PENGASSAN ordered a nationwide strike in response to the dismissal of some Nigerian workers by the Dangote Refinery.
In a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, the association’s General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, said the decision followed an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC).
Okugbawa described the refinery’s action as a violation of Nigeria’s labour laws, the Constitution, and international conventions.
In response, the Federal Government appealed to PENGASSAN to suspend its planned nationwide strike over its dispute with Dangote Refinery.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dingyadi, in a statement, said the ministry had already initiated moves to reconcile the parties to prevent the crisis from escalating.
What you should know
The Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi, on Tuesday, condemned the escalating confrontation between petroleum marketers, labour unions, and the Dangote Refinery, describing it as “unconscionable” and a grave threat to investor confidence.
Ajayi likened the unions’ actions to “vultures gathering to devour what should be a jewel of Nigerian manufacturing.”
He stressed that no investor would commit billions of dollars to build a factory only to see it “decimated” by industrial disputes.
