A former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Adams Oshiomhole, on Friday criticised the leadership and members of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over their recent action against Dangote Refinery.
Oshiomhole specifically described the recent union’s strike action which was suspended on Wednesday as “ill-considered”, arguing that new private sector investors like Dangote should be given time to stabilise before facing intense labour action.
The former governor of Edo State, who stated this when he appeared on Arise News, maintained that the union was supposed to have faced Dangote Refinery alone if at all it must fight rather than shutting other establishments.
SPONSOR AD
Daily Trust reports that both PENGASSAN and Dangote Refinery have been at loggerheads following the unionisation of some employees working with the refinery.
The company had subsequently sacked over 800 of its employees, and replaced them with foreign nationals from Indian, according to PENGASSAN, a development both unions in the oil sector frowned at.
While the company premised its decision on alleged sabotage, the union maintained that Dangote Refinery flouted Labour laws, International Labour Organizations (ILO) conventions and the Nigerian constitution.
Specifically, the development triggered a rapid response from PENGASSAN, whose members shut down export terminals, blocked vessel loading, and locked offices across oil and gas facilities.
After marathon negotiations involving the federal government, labour leaders, and security agencies, a communique was signed on Wednesday morning at about 2:30 am where Dangote Group agreed to re-fix sacked employees.
However, reacting to the development on Friday, the former NLC President noted that the oil union’s decision to shut down facilities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other firms because of issues at Dangote was “ill-considered”.
He said, “In pursuing war, you have to recognise that the tools you deploy must not hurt innocent people, like the tomato sellers who cannot get fuel to move their goods because there is a quarrel between one refinery and one union.
“An employer has to exist, mature and be strong enough to guarantee good-paying jobs. If you cripple a business before it even finds its feet, you are also destroying the jobs you claim to protect,” he said during the interview monitored by our Correspondent.
Oshiomhole, who is also a Senator in the 10th Assembly, said while the unions have the right to defend workers, they must do so in ways that do not create wider economic hardship.
The lawmaker, while affirming that the right to unionise is fundamental, called for caution and balance, insisting that their recent move was hasty and unfair to other workers.
He added, “I think that in seeking to protect a particular set of workers, you do not then risk the jobs of several other workers. When you are pursuing a dispute, the tools you deploy must be such that they do not undermine other people’s jobs.
“Freedom of association is not just a constitutional right, it is a God-given right. But with that freedom comes responsibility, both the employer and employee must exercise their rights in a way that is fair.”
He adde, “I suddenly witnessed long queues at filling stations and people came to me to ask, ‘why are we not at work today, what has happened to the oil industry?’ And the reason was that PENGASSAN had decided that NNPC be shut down, several other companies shut down, all because of a problem in one refinery.”
Referencing his reign as President of NLC, Oshiomhole maintained that when there is a dispute, a specific employer should be targeted, not all the employers in the sector.
“We had a big battle with Union Bank of Nigeria over their policy on married couples working together. But even when we had the capacity to shut down all the banks, we didn’t. We recognised that the alleged offence of Union Bank could not be said to apply to others,” he recalled.
