…Says ” We stand in solidarity with NUPENG
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has issued an ultimatum to the federal government and the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company, calling for the immediate stoppage of ” unfair labour practices within the Dangote Group..
The labour Union in a statement signed by Joe Ajaero, President of the NLC, called for ” the immediate unionization of not just Dangote Refinery but all the other entities within the group.”
The NLC, in the statement, said it stands in solidarity with its affiliate, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG)and condemned what it described as ” crude and dangerous anti-union practices, monopolistic agenda, and indicative industrial relationships strategies of the Dangote Group.
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Recall that NUPENG had earlier raised an alarm over the refusal by Dangote Group to allow its drivers to belong to NUPENG or any union in the Oil and Gas industry.
The NLC stated that such policies by ” Dangote and his associates are directly violating Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, the Labour Act, and ILO Conventions 98 and 87 on Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise and Collectively Bargain (ratified by Nigeria in 1960).”
In the ultimatum, the NLC demands the “immediate unionisation of not just Dangote Refinery but all the other entities within the group.
They also placed the entire Nigerian workers, State Councils and industrial unions in Nigeria “on Red Alert.”
Promised to “mobilise for a united front of resistance against the Dangote Group’s anti-worker agenda and support the proposed industrial action by NUPENG.
“Demand that the Federal Government and its regulatory institutions, especially the Nigerian Midstream & Downstream Petroleum Authority, that history will hold them complicit if they continue to look the other way while a few individuals privatise the nation’s energy future and enslave its workforce.
The NLC also called on the ” Nigerian people to see through the deception: this is not philanthropy, it is plunder; it is not development, it is dispossession and enslavement.”
It described the attack on NUPENG s ” an attack on us all. The NLC, without equivocation, states that Nigerian workers are not slaves and cannot be serially abused without consequences.
“Our Constitution and international conventions guarantee our right to organise, collectively bargain, and defend our dignity at work. The NLC will resist every attempt by the Dangote Group to roll back these rights.
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We warn that if Dangote continues on this reckless anti-union path, the NLC and its affiliates will move beyond words to action.
“We will confront this tyranny head-on until victory is secured for Nigerian workers and the Nigerian people.
“Let it be clearly understood, if the Dangote Group does not immediately halt its anti-union and anti-people agenda, we will not hesitate to mobilize all workers across the length and breadth of this country for actions and solidarity necessary to protect our dignity and to defend Nigeria from the clutches of monopoly capital.”
The NLC stated that its solidarity is not negotiable, adding that ” We will fight because we must. The working class must not be sacrificed on the altar of corporate greed”
The NLC noted that this is not the first complaint it has received against the Dangote group.
” We have received several from other Unions with jurisdictions over the companies owned by the group. All of them verge on the same acts of impunity and unfair labour practices.”
“We state without equivocation that the revelations contained in NUPENG’s statement represent not just an attack on petroleum workers, but a full-blown declaration of war against the Nigerian working class, trade unionism, and the principle of Decent Work.
” I expose what has long been the questionable hallmark of the Dangote Group: a consistent record of union-busting, exploitative labour practices, and monopolistic capture of markets to the detriment of both workers and the Nigerian people.
The NLC also accused the Dangote Refinery of “paying one of the lowest wages in the Oil and Gas sector in Nigeria” and ” treating its staff members beneath acceptable standards”
“Dangote group’s business model clearly enslaves and is not in any way developmental.”
The Union also noted that, contrary to expectations, Nigeria is witnessing a ” classic playbook of primitive capitalism as the group resorts to monopolistic Capture”, using ” State backing to eliminate competition and dominate entire sectors (cement, sugar, flour, and now petroleum products).
“It is boasting already of its rooting in the power structure and preparedness to continue using it against the Unions.”
The NLC also accused Dangote Group of denying workers their constitutional rights of freedom of association, thriving on casualisation, poor wages, and unsafe working conditions, as well as ” employing foreign nationals to the detriment of Nigerian workers”
” Instead of lowering costs for Nigerians, the Dangote monopoly exploits scarcity and control of distribution to raise prices, thereby deepening poverty and hardship”.
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“If this is allowed to stand, it will set a dangerous precedent where powerful capital can openly defy the laws of Nigeria, enslave workers, and destroy the very foundation of collective bargaining. This is a dangerous road to fascism in industrial relations, where workers are treated as slaves without voice or dignity.”
The Union, therefore, called on the Federal Government to immediately call Aliko Dangote and Sayyu Dantata to order.
“Their operations must comply with all Nigerian labour laws and international conventions.”
It also called on the Dangote group to cease all anti-union, anti-worker practices.
