The nationwide strike by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) will continue on Tuesday after negotiations between the Federal Government, organised labour and the Dangote Group collapsed late Monday night in Abuja.
Talks broke down after Sayyu Dantata, who represented the Dangote Group, reportedly walked out on Labour Minister Muhammad Dingyadi and the labour delegation during discussions over the unionisation of Dangote Refinery workers.
Sources at the meeting said the Dangote team insisted that union membership must remain optional, while the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and NUPENG maintained that all workers should be allowed to freely unionise.
Briefing journalists afterwards, Dingyadi admitted the talks ended in a stalemate.
“There are issues we have not been able to reach a final agreement on. Since it was getting late and some of the parties were travelling to Lagos, we had to call off the meeting until tomorrow. But I am confident that by tomorrow, we should be able to resolve these issues,” he said.
Read Also: TUC rejects 5% tax on petroleum products, warns of strike
The NLC, however, accused the Dangote representative of deliberately frustrating negotiations.
Benson Upah, acting secretary of the NLC, said: “Even when we bent backwards to accommodate his uncompromising behaviour, he still walked out. We are left with no option but to do the needful. The strike action continues.”
NUPENG President Williams Akporeha said the union’s action was in defence of Nigerian workers, accusing Dangote of attempting to “enslave” employees.
“We cannot stand by and see an investor monopolise not just the system but even the workers. Nigerians have wished him well, but we will not allow him to enslave them,” he said.
The NLC had earlier issued a “Red Alert” to the Federal Government and the Dangote Group, alleging “crude and dangerous anti-union practices, monopolistic agenda and indecent industrial relations strategies” at Dangote companies. It warned that such policies violate Section 40 of the Constitution, the Labour Act, and International Labour Organisation conventions ratified by Nigeria.
The umbrella labour body demanded the immediate unionisation of Dangote Refinery and all subsidiaries within the group, threatening to escalate solidarity actions nationwide if the company fails to comply.
“If Dangote continues on this reckless anti-union path, we will confront this tyranny head-on until victory is secured for Nigerian workers,” the NLC said.
It also called on the Federal Government to rein in the Dangote Group, warning regulatory agencies would be held complicit if they “look the other way while a few individuals privatise the nation’s energy future and enslave its workforce.”
