Refinery sale: Oil workers suspend strike action

President, PENGASSAN, Mr. Babatunde Ogun

The President, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Mr. Babatunde Ogun, has said the strike action by workers in oil and gas sector planned to commence on January 1, 2014 has been suspended.

The development, Ogun said, was to enable the workers’ umbrella bodies, PENGASSAN and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, to attend a meeting with the Federal Government on January 7.

The meeting between the Federal Government and oil workers is aimed at averting the nationwide strike.

Ogun, in a text message to our correspondent on Saturday night said, “The meeting has been postponed to January 7.” He stressed, “No action till the meeting if decision didn’t satisfy the union.”

Asked whether the union would suspend the strike till the outcome of the meeting, Ogun replied, “Yes.”

But when our correspondent contacted the NUPENG leader in charge of western states, Mr. Tokunbo Korodo, he noted that the union was still mobilising for the strike to commence in January.

According to him, no superior directive from the national executives of the union has been given to suspend the planned industrial action.

He said, “I heard they (Federal Government and the unions) were supposed to dialogue over the issue but I am not part of the representatives that represented NUPENG. I heard there was an invitation to avert strike.

“But as far as I am concerned, as the garrison commander in charge of western states, I have not received any counter directive to shelve the action. So, as I am talking to you, we are seriously mobilising towards actualising that directive.

“Until a counter directive from a superior officer comes to me that will make me renege on my effort on the strike, I don’t think we will soft-pedal. I spoke with the National President this (Saturday) morning and we only greeted on the festive period, but there was no counter directive.”

The unions, on December 17, had given the government a one-week ultimatum to halt its plan to sell the refineries to private investors.

Ogun had said, “If between now and December 24 we don’t hear anything from the government, we will mobilise, and between that time and the end of the year, we will expect a retraction but if they fail to retract, then be rest assured that in the first week of January all oil and gas workers in Nigeria will go on a total strike.”

On whether the unions had met with the Federal Government before coming out to make public its threat, he said series of agreements had been signed in the past and stressed that “the government cannot be trusted again with agreements.”

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