Latest report informs that the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association OF Nigeria, PENGASSAN, has suspended its six days strike after deliberations with the 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, stating that National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission and the Budget and National Planning Ministry would make corrections to be effective from March 1, 2015.
On the issue of restructuring in 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, it said the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, assured 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 declared redundancies without due process, were directed to revert to status quo Ante Bellum.
It read in part, “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 communiqué stated, ‘The meeting was satisfied on 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 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.”
It was learnt that the oil workers’ latest NEC meeting that gave rise to the suspension of the strike was held in Abuja on Tuesday night after the unions in the sector had earlier met with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige.
Ngige had told journalists in Abuja that the government provided very useful information to PENGASSAN on issues that needed clarification.
Some of the issues, he said, include the matter of joint venture cash calls, appointments in selected agencies under the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, and the matter with the PIB.
The minister had said, “On the state of the nation, we briefed them because they are Nigerians. They complained that their members are been killed and the Department of State Security addressed the issue and they were quite satisfied.
“We also looked at the issue of corruption and the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation briefed us on what is being done. On PIB, the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Ita Enang, gave us a proper elucidation on where the bill stands today and everybody was satisfied. We now fashioned out a roadmap on how to get the bill alive to address the burning issues in the oil and gas industry.”
