PENGASSAN SUSPENDS STRIKE
The Petroleum
and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria has suspended its six-day
strike after holding talks with the Federal Government and employers in the oil
sector.
The oil
workers union called on its members nationwide to resume work with immediate
effect after its National Executive Committee meeting.
This comes
after the Ministry of Labour and Employment and Ministry of Petroleum Resources
held a two-day meeting with the leadership of the PENGASSAN, Nigerian Union of
Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers and employers and to address unresolved
issues in the oil and gas industry.
In a
communiqué issued at the end of the meeting by the Ministry of Labour and
Employment, it was concluded that only one government agency had been affected
by the non-implementation of 2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
It was agreed
that the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission and the Budget and
National Planning Ministry would make corrections to be effective from March 1,
2015.
The talks
also covered the planned restructuring of the Petroleum Products Pricing
Regulatory Agency; Department of Petroleum Resources; Nigeria Content
Development Management Board; Petroleum Training Institute; and Nigeria Nuclear
Regulatory Agency; Petroleum Equalisation Fund; and Petroleum Technology
Development Fund.
PENGASSAN
said the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, assured
the oil workers that the restructuring exercise had been done in the mentioned
agencies and no jobs were lost.
In the
meeting presided by the Minster of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, some
International Oil Companies, which had axed workers without due process, were
directed to revert to status quo Ante Bellum.
The
communique read in party, “Most of the IOCs and Indigenous Oil Companies that
have laid-off workers without passing through the due process of the law all
agreed to comply and in such cases where the workers had gone on strike or
locked out by employers, the meeting directed them to unlock such premises
while the actions of employers have also been put on hold to make for a free
and unfettered atmosphere during the negotiations.”
The
stakeholders expressed satisfaction with the new model of the new Joint
Venture arrangement by the Petroleum Resources Ministry and the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation as well as the payment structure put in place to
pay off the arrears of the old Joint Venture Cash Calls inherited by the new
government.
“This will
help the International oil companies to stem the tide of redundancies being
declared in the Industry and help address job losses of oil workers that would
otherwise be put into the unemployment market,” the communique stated.
“The meeting
noted with satisfaction the report of the Honourable Minister of State for
Petroleum Resources that almost all the IOCs have signed into these proposals.”
PENGASSAN SUSPENDS STRIKE
Reviewed by deewhyhem
on
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
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