NUPENG, PENGASSAN split over planned strike

Unions representing oil workers in Nigeria are currently at loggerheads over their planned strike action.

A strike action proposed by members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) was supposed to commence on Thursday however it was shelved by the body.

The group said it abandoned the strike in order to give its leadership time to meet with the Nigerian government’s delegation and table their grievances.

The South West Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Tokunbo Korodo said a meeting with representatives of the Federal Government, which was scheduled to take place on Thursday has been shifted till July 11.

He noted that NUPENG remains open to the option of dialogue to ensure Nigerians are not made to suffer unnecessarily.

However, the National Public Relations Officer, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Emmanuel Ojugbana, said all is now set for the planned strike.

He added that the gradual method of shutting down activities and operations in the oil and gas sector is being adopted by its members.

He also said the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) will also be affected during the strike.

The unions are accusing the federal government of deliberately frustrating its efforts to resolve issues bothering on the recent disengagement of some of their staff in some oil corporations as well as poor welfare of oil workers.

PENGASSAN is also accusing the Federal government of failing to honor negotiation meetings set up on June 23rd and 30th.

Over the past few months, oil companies have laid off thousands, cut production and even closed operations as they struggle with Nigeria’s ailing economy.

Nigeria, which is Africa’s biggest economy and top oil producer, has been hit hard by the slump in oil revenues, its lifeblood.

The country relies on crude sales for about 70 percent of its government revenues.