•••Our Oil Workers Have Not Joined NUPENG- Dangote
A combined photo of Dangote Refinery and NUPENG logo
By Victory Oghene
The peace meeting initiated by the federal government for the Downstream oil workers under the auspices of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) and Dangote Refinery ended yesterday night in a deadlock as both parties failed to reach a truce over the unionisation of staff of Dangote Refinery.
Following the deadlocked talks, NUPENG said that it will continue with the nationwide industrial action, which had already taken its toll in some states, following the shutdown of filling stations in several parts of the country.
Also yesterday, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Natural Oil & Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA), the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), and the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) announced that they were joining the strike action in solidarity with NUPENG.
NUPENG is currently locked in a major dispute with the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, over the company’s decision to recruit thousands of drivers for its new fleet of compressed natural gas-powered trucks under a condition it says bars them from belonging to any existing trade union.
In the same vein, the downstream oil workers have argued that if Dangote is allowed to massively import and put his trucks into operation, many of its members will be thrown into the labour market or rendered redundant.
Besides, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have threatened to mobilise their members across the country to join the strike in solidarity with NUPENG if matters were not amicably resolved.
But at the reconciliatory meeting brokered by the federal government on Monday both Dangote and NUPENG negotiating teams failed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the issues in dispute.
After several hours of negotiation brokered by the federal government through the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, both parties failed to agree on terms and conditions for the unionisation of the employees of Dangote Refinery.
While the Dangote team agreed to allow some categories of the staff to join the union, NUPENG insisted that all workers must be given a chance to register with industry unions.
Speaking to journalists at the end of the meeting that lasted till 11 pm last night, Minister of Labour and Employment, Alhaji Maigari Dingyadi, said that there was no deal, expressing hope that the talks will continue today.
“The issue is that we have not been able to reach a final agreement on this matter because we had a stalemate and we are trying to resolve the issues but it was getting late and we had to call off the meeting.
“We are confident that maybe by tomorrow (today) we will be able to resolve these issues. I want to appeal to everybody to please maintain the peace. By the grace of God, by tomorrow we will be able to get both parties to be able to agree on something that will ensure the strike is called off,” Dingyadi stated.
Dangote Refinery has also denied news making the rounds that it has allowed its staff to join NUPENG, a dependable source who craved for anonimity informed NATIONAL WAVES that the company has not taken such decision.
