BARRING last minute effort by the government to avert crisis in the oil sector, members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) may begin an indefinite nationwide strike on Wednesday.
The strike notice is coming ahead of tomorrow’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the union, where the planned industrial action is expected to be ratified and proclaimed.
According to a statement made available to The Guardian yesterday, the option of strike is coming on the heels of breakdown of talks between PENGASSAN and the management of Mobil Oil Nigeria PLC over the sack of the union’s members.
It said: “PENGASSAN wishes to alert Nigerians and other concerned citizens of this country of its commitment to direct all association members to embark on an indefinite nationwide strike with effect from Wednesday March 19, 2008 as shall be ratified at the forthcoming National Executive Council meeting in protest against the manner in which Mobil Oil Nigeria (MON) has targeted job cuts in the downstream sector.”
The union alleged that against all known Labour laws and social judgment, MON sacked its members, including all the branch executive officers and the National Treasurer.
PENGASSAN, therefore, stressed that “for us as a movement, and as a very strategic workplace partner and responsible co-managers of people and processes in the oil and gas sector, it is unacceptable to the association that the management of Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc could undermine business ethics, norms and ethos and embark on anti-Labour acts that are repugnant to principles of fairness, equity, natural justice and good conscience, transparency and accountability, adherence to laid down due process, and compliance with stipulated modalities and rationale”.
The association stated its readiness to challenge what it described as Mobil’s Nigeria Plc’s un-abating abuse of our industry best practices of Labour- management relations, aberration of due process, inordinate and flagrant breaches and violations of the extant Labour laws and ratified ILO Conventions, and workers’ fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to sack our branch executive officers and the national treasurers of the union.”
It wondered why the management of the oil company cannot endure as done by the union to follow the rule of law by resorting to National Industrial Court as decided at the end of the tripartite meeting of Friday February 1, 2008 at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity when the mediation process could not bring amicable resolution.
The union accused the Federal Ministry of Labour of bias and “questionable complacency as it allegedly” heard and shared management viewpoint alone without resource to PENGASSAN” thus forcing the association to seek redress in the National Industrial Court.
PENGASSAN said that its members had been put on notice for the impending nationwide strike.
The statement reads in part: “As shall be further directed, we shall ensure that all our members withdraw their services from all offices, base and field locations, plants and facilities in the entire Petroleum Sector, including all related government and quasi public corporations and agencies, and commence full scale indefinite industrial action until otherwise directed.
“It is imperative to inform and assure all Nigerians that this directive is a follow-up to the 21-days ultimatum given by our National Executive Council to all downstream Sector Oil and Gas employers that were noted to be perpetrating anti-Labour acts and unfair Labour practices, under the guises of organization renewal, divestments, SAP implementation, and other shades and forms of restructuring.”
But External Affairs Manager, MON, Mr. Akin Fatunke, in a telephone interview with The Guardian, claimed that his management was not aware of any subsisting court injunction or any arbitration case in the National Industrial Court.
He, however, explained that if there was any pending case as claimed by PENGASSAN, it was only right for it to wait for court ruling before embarking on strike as it would amount to taking the laws into their hands.
Fatunke maintained that allegations of union executives’ victimization made by PENGASSAN were unfounded and baseless, adding that “the primary focus was the rationalization of jobs affected by SAP (Software Application Programme) and not employees of their status.”
Fatunke, however, picked holes in the position of the union, saying “unionised positions and those at senior executive levels have been affected by the renewal programme,” adding that “employees whose positions were affected and who possess relevant skills and capabilities to fit into new jobs were assigned new roles.”
He said that for employees whose positions were inevitably affected, the firm ensured fair, equitable and dignified treatment in accordance with the company’s core human resource policies.
Fatunke said: “In compliance with local law, we signed a severance agreement with PENGASSAN in Abuja on December 2, 2007, under the mediation of the Federal Ministry of Labour and have paid compensation and benefits, which are among the best in the industry.
“Of the 67 employees affected by the renewal programme, 61 have voluntarily reviewed and signed off on their final entitlement packages. About 57 of them have since collected their cheques with each process appropriately witnessed in accordance with local law.
According to him, Mobil will continue to encourage its employees to belong to PENGASSAN and remain strong contributors to the growth of the company. “We will support union activities in our company in full Nigerian Law, he said.”