Fuel scarcity looms as oil workers begin nationwide strike

NIGERIA Union of Petroleum and Natural
Gas Workers, NUPENG, and its Petroleum and
Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria,
PENGASSAN, will today begin an indefinite
nationwide strike, to protest the inability of the
government to carry out Turn Around
Maintenance, TAM, of the refineries and reduce
pump prices of petroleum products in line with
the slump in global prices of crude oil.
Other grievances include delay in the passage of
the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB; non-
implementation of the Nigeria Oil and Gas
Industry Content Development, NOGICD, Act to
reflect Nigerians in management positions and
expatriate quota law; appalling state of access
roads to refineries and oil depots’ facilities and
insecurity in the country that has led to the death
of members.
Other complaints are appointments in government
agencies in disregards to succession planning,
compulsory deduction from workers’ salaries for
the National Housing Fund, NHF; casualisation
and contract staffing and unfair labour practice by
companies and government agencies.
The grievances also include termination of
appointment of the Port Harcourt Zonal Secretary
of the association by Total Exploration and
Production, Total E&P, Nigeria Limited;
retardation of staff promotion in the Petroleum
Technology Development Fund, PTDF; non-
standardisation of nomenclature and collective
bargaining agreement of the Nigerian Nuclear
Regulatory Agency, NNRA, in line with what is
obtained in other agencies in the oil and gas
industry and refusal of the management of Addax/
Petrostuff Nigeria Limited and Chevron/Sudelletra
to recall sacked staff.
The oil workers issued a 14-day ultimatum to
government October 31, 2014, threatening that at
the expiration they would no longer issue any
notice to government because the issues had
been protracted and government and other
affected companies had not shown any
commitment to addressing the workers
grievances. .
The unions had issued a statement that all levels
of the unions had been fully sensitised and
mobilised for the inevitable industrial actions that
would affect every value chain in the upstream,
midstream and downstream of the oil and gas
industry.
Vanguard gathered that ahead of the strike,
branch leaders of the two unions met at the zonal
levels in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna
and had set up joint monitoring committees to
ensure the strike is effective.
On crude oil theft
On crude oil theft and acts of vandalism, NUPENG
and PENGASSAN alleged high level collaboration
of the security agencies, politicians and highly
placed Nigerians in the buccaneering racket of oil
and gas installations and the resultant crude oil
theft, lamenting that the ugly trend signified a
looming extinction of the oil and gas industry with
attendant job losses.