Members of the Port Harcourt zone of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, has given a 14-day ultimatum to the federal and state governments to look into the plight of some oil companies in the state.
NUPENG also beckoned on stakeholders in the petroleum sector to intervene in the high-handedness and insensitive conduct of some employers in the oil and gas industry or be ready to face a strike action from the union.
NUPENG issued the threat after its emergency meeting held in Port Harcourt.
State Chairman of NUPENG, Godwin Eruba expressed worry that the conduct of some employers in the oil and gas industry was affecting the employment of her members.
Eruba while reading the point resolution of the meeting stated that the Nigeria Agip Oil Company should respect the April and June 2014 letters from the National Petroleum Investment Management Service.
According to him, “NAOC should as a matter of urgency respect the April and June 2014 letters from NAPIMS directing her to discuss the stopgap contract of turbine and related equipment maintenance in OB/OB, Ebocha and Kwale with ARCO Petroleum (Nig) Plc.
“The refusal of NAOC to obey this directive has posed a great threat to the jobs of our members in ARCO, who have contributed their quota to the economic growth of this country since the contractor mobilized to site in 2006.
“The alleged replacement contractor, Plantgeria Nigeria Limited has concluded plans to cut the workforce by 60 percent, cut the existing collectively negotiated salaries by 40 percent and force the workers to sign a yellow-dog contract denouncing membership of NUPENG or PENGASSAN”, Eruba said.
The leader of NUPENG in Rivers State, Eruba urged NOAC to reverse the recently terminated service contracts in Lagos, Port Harcourt, OB/OB, Ebocha and Kwale locations, adding that the situation had rendered the workers jobless.
“Members (of NUPENG) condemned the insensitivity of the company in her refusal to renew the workers collective agreement which expired since 2012.
“Congress also called on NAOC and her service contractors to immediately pay all the salary arrears ranging from one year to three months owed members in all the locations.
“They also reminded the company to speedily set up a tripartite committee as directed by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Port Harcourt to fashion out ways of sanitising the shoddy dimension service contracts awards and execution which have assumed in the company in recent times”, Eruba further said.
NUPENG condemned the actions of some companies in the Onne Free Trade Zone, which fired their workers over the issue of unionism.
“That all the 13 workers whose jobs were terminated in April 2014 by the management of BK Tubulars Nigeria Limited in connivance with the management of Free Trade Zone Authority, Onne, be recalled.
“These workers were terminated for exercising their constitutional right to unionization”, the statement read
NUPENG in conjunction with its sister Union, PENGASSAN, warned that they would shut down petroleum activities in 10 states that make up Port Harcourt Zone of the union if nothing was done at the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum.
It added that the upstream and downstream sections of the petroleum industry, including petroleum tanker drivers, would down tools in solidarity with the affected workers.
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