• NLC mobilises to join as PTD distances self
• IPMAN national, Western Zone disagree on support

Minister of Labour and Productivity, Muhammad Dingyadi, has urged the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) to reconsider its stance on commencing a nationwide industrial action over their dispute with the Dangote Group, bordering on the firm’s policy against unionisation by its employees.

The minister also pleaded with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to withdraw the red alert it issued to its affiliate unions to be on standby for a nationwide strike in solidarity with the petroleum workers, who are protesting the alleged anti-workers and anti-union agenda of the Dangote Group.

He said that since his ministry had intervened in the matter, the unions should shelve their plan of shutting down the petroleum industry, with a view to maintaining peace in this highly critical sector of the Nigerian economy.The minister also assured Nigerians that the dispute would be resolved harmoniously.

HOWEVER, the President of NUPENG, Williams Akporeha, yesterday, said that a meeting had been slated for 3:00 p.m. today in Abuja, and shelving the strike would be determined at the meeting.

Meanwhile, the NLC has allied itself with the position of NUPENG on the strike. The NLC, which accused Dangote Group of paying one of the lowest wages in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria, as well as treating its members of staff members below acceptable standards, insisted that the firm’s business model clearly enslaves and is not in any way developmental.

It, therefore, called on the Federal Government to immediately call Aliko Dangote and Sayyu Dantata to order to comply with all the Nigerian labour laws and international conventions.

It demanded the immediate unionisation of not just Dangote Refinery but all the other entities within the group. It also hinted that the NLC apparatus nationwide had been placed on red alert and mobilised for a united front of resistance against the Dangote Group’s anti-worker agenda and to support the proposed industrial action by NUPENG.

But in a swift reaction, the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) group has rejected NUPENG’s directive, which it described as ‘insensitive’. In a statement jointly signed by the PTD Warri zone Chairperson, Blessing Dafinone, and her Port Harcourt zone counterpart, Joseph Dagogo-Jack, the PTD said: “This is a clarion call to all Petroleum Tanker Drivers across Nigeria to please ignore the strike notice issued by NUPENG leadership.”

It berated NUPENG for not exploring alternative dispute resolution mechanisms before declaring a strike.

The PTD maintained that while workers reserve the right to withdraw their services via their unions, labour unions must exercise restraints to preserve social cohesion for the economy to thrive for the benefit of the populace, saying: “Unions are expected to be socially responsible and not self-centred, which is capable of ruining the socio-economic accomplishments of the country.”It insisted that belonging to a labour union anywhere in the world is voluntary.

HOWEVER, while the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Western Zone, has announced a total shutdown of operations in a show of solidarity with NUPENG, the national leadership of IPMAN, yesterday, distanced itself from the strike called by its Western Zone.

The Western Zone, in a statement signed by its Chairman and Acting Secretary, Joseph Akanni and Adeleke Adeoye, respectively, said Dangote’s intention contravenes the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), and urged its members to begin a strike today.

But a statement by the National Ex-Officio, Douglas Iyike, on behalf of the National Executive Council (NEC) of IPMAN, urged its members to disregard the strike. He added that what Dangote plans to do would free the drivers from multiple and choking levies they are forced to pay by petroleum tanker drivers.