The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has suspended its nationwide strike against the Dangote Refinery after reaching an agreement with the management.
The agreement was reached following a reconciliation meeting facilitated by the Nigerian government between the parties.
The meeting initially ended in a deadlock on Monday night. It was scheduled to resume at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Abuja, and later moved to the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA).
PREMIUM TIMES understands that the parties reached an agreement in the early hours of Wednesday after negotiations.
Agreement
After a lengthy discussion, the parties resolved that unionisation is a right of workers in accordance with the laws of Nigeria and that this right should be respected.
The meeting agreed that the management of Dangote Group shall immediately start the process of taking the disengaged staff to other companies within the Dangote Group, with no loss of pay, and no workers will be victimised arising from their role in the impasse between Dangote and PENGASSAN.
PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, who announced the suspension of the strike at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, cautioned that the union will resume the action without notice if the agreement is breached.
“We are suspending and will be monitoring closely. Any slip on the part of Dangote, any part of this agreement, or any communiqué put out by the ministry of labour that is broken, we will not give any notice; we will resume this suspended industrial action.
“When these people were hired, they were given individual letters, but when it came to termination, one single letter was used to throw all of them out. We found that unacceptable. For us, injury to one is truly injury to all. When you fight one, you fight all,” Mr Osifo said.
Dangote vs PENGASSAN crisis
PREMIUM TIMES reports that PENGASSAN had earlier asked its members to disrupt activities at the refinery by blocking gas supply to it.
The association said its decision was in response to the decision by the refinery’s management to sack some workers who are members of the union. It also accused Dangote refinery of spreading misinformation to justify its actions.
The union also directed its members nationwide to withdraw their services in protest against the alleged sack of Nigerian workers at the refinery from midnight on 28 September. It accused the management of the refinery of anti-labour practices and discrimination against local employees, prompting the federal government’s intervention.
READ ALSO: Dangote refinery, PENGASSAN reach agreement after govt intervention
In a swift response, Dangote refinery described the order as illegal and cautioned PENGASSAN to obey Nigerian laws in its operations, noting that PENGASSAN has no legal right to disrupt or interfere with the refinery’s contracts with third-party vendors for gas and crude oil supply.
The Dangote Refinery called on the federal government and its security agencies to intervene and call PENGASSAN to order, urging that PENGASSAN’s actions are not only lawless but also have the potential to inflict significant harm on the Nigerian economy and citizens.
On Saturday, the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) called on PENGASSAN to suspend its directive to cut off gas and crude oil supply to the Dangote refinery.
On Sunday, the federal government appealed to PENGASSAN to suspend its planned nationwide strike over its dispute with the Dangote Refinery.
In an appeal statement, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, said the ministry had already initiated moves to reconcile the parties to prevent the crisis from escalating.
This newspaper had earlier reported that PENGASSAN, on Monday morning, shut down the major entry points of the NNPC Ltd, NMDPRA, and the NUPRC.
At the NMDPRA Headquarters gate located at the federal secretariat, this newspaper observed a banner with an inscription ‘Dangote Must Obey’, ‘Dangote is Not bigger than the country’, and ‘Dangote the Chief of lawless officer.’
Earlier, the National Industrial Court, Abuja, issued an interim order stopping PENGASSAN from continuing with its nationwide industrial action against the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals.
The court also restrained PENGASSAN from cutting crude and gas supply to Dangote Refinery.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the ongoing strike by the PENGASSAN has led to a resurgence of black market petrol sellers in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.
