President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), Festus Osifo has led the union to conclude Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) with companies operating in the oil and gas industry.
Most of the CBAs that have been concluded led to about 300 per cent increment in the salaries and emoluments of PENGASSAN members across the country.
Speaking to The Guardian, Osifo said: “Since began to rise, we have been engaging our employers in CBA negotiations across the board and there has been a tremendous response. Since 2023 when started the process, we have achieved close to 300 per cent salary increments across the board.
Osifo explained that CBAs are continuous negotiations that are constantly evolving in dynamics that are often dictated by industry atmospherics.
“Where we have not achieved 300 per cent, we have hit about 200 per cent. So, it has been success stories for us in PENGASSAN from one branch to another,” he added.
Osifo has a warning for companies delaying salary increments amid biting inflation and devaluation of the naira, Osifo said the union would issue a timeline within which they are expected to implement a new wage or face the wrath of PENGASSAN.
Osifo added that while oil workers operate above the N70,000 national minimum wage, they have their thresholds under which no employer in the oil and gas sector is expected to fall.
He said: “For us, it is not just inflation. If you tell an oil and gas management to bridge the inflation, which is about 24 per cent, they will be very happy to implement that. But, here what we are talking about is over 300 per cent. PENGASSAN is not negotiating based on inflation devaluation alone. Other more fundamental issues underline our call for better conditions of service.”
Speaking as the President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Osifo said he and his team are working towards ensuring that the N70,000 minimum wage is implemented by state governments and other employers that are historically hesitant.
“But when it comes to TUC, the situation is a bit different. For the 42 affiliates of the TUC, some people are working in traditional civil service institutions. We know and understand the challenges, which is why from time to time, we constantly suggest solutions,” he said.
For the umpteenth time, Osifo reiterated the role devaluation is playing in the skyrocketing inflation.
While the government has accelerated to import food, Osifo insisted that the government must do more to alleviate the suffering of the people beyond cheaper food.
Osifo, who sounded reserved and cautious when asked to comment on the two-year scorecard of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, described the last two years as a mixed bag of the good, the bad and the ugly economically and socially.
He said: “It is a mixed bag. We were told before the president emerged that he was a master at solving economic challenges. But today, two years down the line, Nigerians are still facing a lot of macro and micro economic challenges. Government functionaries can continue to make presentations and a lot of noise on the gains that have been made. But how has this gain trickled into the price of food in the market? How has this gain trickled into the food that is on the table of every Nigerian? That is a question that must be answered.”
One policy that excites Osifo is the students’ loan scheme which will help keep indigent students in school.
“On the flip side is the student scheme that the government has introduced. That will be a big relief to poor parents who have their wards in school. Students from poor backgrounds will no longer worry about where their school fees will come from. Our appeal to the government is to ensure accountability and transparency of the process to prevent corruption creeping into a novel programme,” he stated.
