Nigeria’s Oil Workers Suspend Strike

Nigeria’s Oil Workers Suspend Strike

After a protracted meeting with government officials which  lasted for 13 hours, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), and the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG)  suspended their nationwide strike on Friday morning.

Their industrial action was in protest against several unresolved issues with the government, among which are unfair labour practices and non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill.

To get the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to suspend their nation-wide strike early Friday morning. the meeting between both parties addressed all the issues contained in a communiqué dated October 31, 2014,  jointly issued by NUPENG and PENGASSAN.

The meeting, which lasted13 hours, was called at the instance of the supervising Minister of Labour and Productivity, Alhaji Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, who led the government team.

It had the leadership of oil workers under the auspices of NUPENG and PENGASSAN and other relevant stakeholders in the oil and gas industry in attendance.

The meeting, held at the Conference Room of the Ministry of Labour and Productivity, started at 5 pm on Thursday evening and ended about 6 am Friday morning after all parties had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)..

On the issue of Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), the meeting noted the benefits associated with the Bill but regretted the delay in its passage by the National Assembly.

It was, therefore  agreed that the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, NUPENG and PENGASSAN should meet on the issue to decide on the best productive line of action.

The meeting noted that the guidelines on casualisation, contract staffing and outsourcing are still subsisting and the trade unions were advised to submit the names of companies defaulting in relation to the guidelines.

Besides, it was noted that the guidelines had been submitted to the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation for gazetting as Regulations; while the need to update the Guidelines in view of the changing world of work was also identified by the meeting.