Oil & Gas Workers Call Off Nationwide Strike, Reach Agreement With FG

Reports reaching us reveal that the Oil workers under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Worker (NUPENG) have called off their four-day long industrial action.

According to Premium Times, the National Executive Councils of the two unions agreed to suspend the strike after a long meeting on Thursday with federal government representatives which lasted till the early hours of Friday.

Though details of the resolution were yet to be released, a senior national official of PENGASSAN in Abuja told reporters that the unions were able to extract “firm” commitments from the government with regards to their grievances.

The meeting, convened by the Ministry of Labour and Productivity, was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

Some of the demands of the workers included the immediate reinstatement of one of PENGASSAN zonal official in Rivers state, Elo Victor, sacked by the management of Total Oil Nigeria and the suspension of plans by government to sell the refineries.

The workers were also protesting against the delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which has been pending at the National Assembly for about six years.

The PENGASSAN official, who pleaded that he should not be named as he was authorized to speak on the issue, said a formal joint statement calling off the action would be issued by the NEC of the union later on Friday.