Industrial Harmony: Baru commends NUPENG, PENGASSAN

Abiodun oba |

The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Dr Maikanti Baru has commended oil and gas workers’ unions for ensuring harmony in the industry.

Baru made the commendation in a statement signed by Mr Ndu Ughamadu, the Spokesman of the corporation in Abuja on Friday.

He said that the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) had maintained maturity in their dealings

He thanked the workers for the exceptional maturity they had shown at critical moments on issues affecting the industry.

He said that the Oil and Gas Sector was central to Nigeria’s overcoming the recent past recession, stressing that oil workers owe the country the duty to ensure that the nation did not slip back to the slum.

Baru noted that the corporation would continue to partner with the unions in the interest of the nation and the industry workers, adding that the corporation’s doors would be open to the union leadership to move the sector forward.

Meanwhile, the supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country are under threat as the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Association have joined the strike ordered by the Nigeria Labour Congress.

The NLC on Wednesday directed all its members and affiliate unions to commence a nationwide strike on Thursday, following the failure of a meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, in Abuja on Wednesday, to produce the expected outcome.

The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said the industrial action would commence due to the refusal of the Federal Government to reconvene the meeting of the Tripartite National Minimum Wage Committee to enable it to conclude its work.

A NUPENG spokesperson, Mr Adamson Momoh, however told one of our correspondents on Thursday, “We are part of the United Labour Congress; so, any decision that they take, we will abide by it.”

The National Public Relations Officer, PENGASSAN, Mr Fortune Obi, said the association had been directed to join the ongoing strike.

He stated, “PENGASSAN is an affiliate of the Trade Union Congress; so, the directive is that we should join the strike, and after the Central Working Committee meeting, the CWC has issued the same directive as the TUC to our members.

“We will manage the protest technically; there is nowhere in the world where you will abruptly stop oil production. It is a process. So, even if our members are joining, which is to respect the directive from our principals, it is something that must be done systematically.

“We have our members in different departments and areas; some are in essential duties area, and they will continue to deliver their duties.”

In a related development, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) has advised organised labour and the Federal Government to embrace dialogue while discussing on how best to tackle the issue of the National Minimum wage.

The President of the Association, Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, gave the advice in Abuja on Friday that both parties must find a way to resolve the disagreement amicably and urged them to work in the interest of the country.

“We want peace to reign, both the labour unions, workers and government must try and understand each other in this issue,” he said.
Commenting on why marketers shun the strike, he said “we are business men, any day we don’t sell our products, we lose a lot.

“We are not against what the labour is doing, but we want peace and that is why we say that both parties should embrace peace for the interest of Nigerians.

According to NAN report, most filling stations in Abuja were open for business, against the labour union directive to shut down in support of the agitation for increase in minimum wage.

The organised labour began a warning strike midnight on Wednesday to press home the implementation of the new national minimum wage.