Oil workers in the Eastern zone of the country on Wednesday endorsed an indefinite strike action to press home their demand for the reinstatement of seven of their members sacked by a Port Harcourt-based oil servicing firm.
The decision to prolong the strike, which started on Monday, was taken after a meeting between officials of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers of Nigeria in Port Harcourt.
The meeting, which lasted for over three hours, deliberated on the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of the workers by Franks� International Limited and the refusal of the company to recall them.
At the meeting addressed by the PENGASSAN Chairman, Eastern Zone, Mr. Alex Akalazu, and his NUPENG counterpart, Mr. Achese Igwe, the unions resolved to picket the recalcitrant firm and make it impossible for it to operate until the staff were recalled.
A communiqu� issued by the two unions stated that they were worried that FIL had consistently ignored the directives of the Department of Petroleum Resources and the Federal Ministry of Labour to recall the dismissed staff and engage in a dialogue with the unions over the issues at stake.
Akalazu told our correspondent at the end of the meeting that the workers were ready to go on strike until the company obeyed the laws of Nigeria in its dealings with the staff.
Akalazu said, �This is a test case for other companies operating in the Nigerian oil industry and the way we are going to handle it will determine how they treat our people.�
In the same vein, Igwe pointed out that the management of FIL had failed to recognise the unions in the company and that the only way to make it to do the right thing was for the unions to continue with the strike.
�If care is not taken, we are going to press for the closure of the company by the DPR since it is very clear that the firm does not want to abide by the labour laws of Nigeria,� he said.
During the meeting it was also resolved that the branch chairmen and secretaries of the two unions working in major oil companies with which FIL has businesses, should begin moves to disengage such jobs with the latter.
The unions were however angry that out of the seven workers sacked by the company, four had gone behind to collect their severance entitlements while the unions were still fighting for their reinstatement.
But the three others who are yet to accept their dismissal letters have been told by the unions leadership to press on with their demand for recall, as directed by the Labour ministry and the DPR.
The company is to be picketed on Thursday (today) on the orders of the two unions while the strike will be observed by all branches of the unions in the Eastern zone.
Tanker drivers and fuel dealers are also expected to join the strike with effect from Thursday.