The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have called off their one-week strike and therefore directed members to resume work at their various stations.
It was learnt that the unions decided to call off the strike after the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting yesterday.
The meeting ended after the stakeholders reached an agreement on issues concerning job security, causalisation of workers and improved welfare.
PENGASSAN said the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, assured the oil workers that the restructuring exercise had been done in the mentioned agencies and no jobs were lost.
At the meeting presided over by the Minster of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, some international oil companies which had axed workers without due process were directed to revert to the status quo.
A statement issued at the end of the meeting and signed by the President of PENGASSAN, F.O. Johnson, President of NUPENG, Igwe Achese, and their secretaries stated that based on the understanding at the parley, and in view of the on-going social dialogue, the meeting urged PENGASSAN that in order to make for an unfettered execution of most of the resolutions reached, the national strike by its members which started on Thursday July 7, 2016 be suspended.
“Most of the IOCs and Indigenous Oil Companies that have laid-off workers without passing through the due process of the law all agreed to comply, and in such cases where the workers had gone on strike or been locked out by employers, the meeting directed them to unlock such premises while the actions of employers have also been put on hold to make for a free and unfettered atmosphere during the negotiations.
“This will help the International Oil companies to stem the tide of redundancies being declared in the industry and help address job losses of oil workers that would otherwise be put into the unemployment market.
“The meeting noted with satisfaction the report of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources that almost all the IOCs have signed into these proposals,” the statement said.
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Credit: All Africa
