imbola Oyesola, [email protected]
Against the backdrop of flagrant abuse of workers and anti-labour policies of employers in the country, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has charged the National Assembly and all industry regulatory and monitoring agencies to come up with laws and policies to save Nigeria workers in the oil and gas industry.
President of NUPENG, Williams Akporeha, in his address at the sixth triennial delegates’ conference of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), lamented that there was a dangerous trend in the nation’s industrial relations landscape militating against the survival of decent and healthy industrial relations in the country today.
“There seems to be a calculated attempt to impoverish Nigerian workers by denying them their constitutional right of voluntarily belonging to trade unions of their choice and thereby depriving them the right of freedom to freely discuss their fate while in employment,” he said.
Akporeha noted that situations where management in the industry sacked workers through text messages at resumption gates and where IOCs management don’t employ permanent workers into their systems anymore but outsourced them to contractors who they arm-twist and advice to carry out anti-workers/labour practices portend strong, ugly and very dangerous signals to the working masses.
He said, “And we must stand up now and resist with all our might this anti-workers imperialists in whatever form and shape they tend to rear their heads because, as I address this august gathering, it has degenerated to the extent where workers on contract employment are seen as slaves and they are to remain without union if they must continue to keep their job.
“The question is, where is the future of our trade unions? Where is the future of freedom of association? Where is the future of the working people of this country, especially in the oil and gas industry?”
According to Akporeha, labour leaders and their members should remain unapologetic in defending, promoting and projecting the rights and privileges of NUPENGASSAN members, no matter their status of employment in the industry.
He recalled that over the years, the two unions, NUPENG and PENGASSAN have evolved and become so unbreakable in their bond and resolve to promote, protect and project job interest of their members, promote productivity and industrial peace and harmony in the industry under the umbrella of NUPENGASSAN and consistently supporting and recommending policies that will enhance greater socio-economic benefits and welfare opportunities for every Nigerian.
“Capital is never our friend and the interest of capital remains same yesterday, today and tomorrow. We must not pretend that we are projection of the owners of the business, we remain who we are as workers and as workers and an injury to one oil and gas worker is an injury to all oil and gas workers,” he said.
He maintained that NUPENG would continue to work towards closer ties and cooperation with the sister union to put an end to all unwholesome industrial relations issues and challenges in the sector.
He added that, “The leadership of NUPENG today celebrates the ever-burning fire of collaboration that exists with PENGASSAN, especially in the fight against unfair labour practices in the oil and gas industry, notably on casualisation and outsourcing.
“Our joint unrepentant positions in canvassing for the speedy passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, Local Content Amendment Bill, struggles against casualisatiion, which gave rise to industry guidelines on outsourcing, contract labour and prompt caution to employers not to take the advantage of COVID-19 pandemic to unleash unnecessary redundancies on our members are pointers to
“NUPENGASSAN collaborative efforts to protect and project the rights and welfare of the oil and gas workers during this period under review.”