Sequel to the sack of over 800 ExxonMobil staff on Friday by the Management of the company, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), has issued an ultimatum to the Management of ExxonMobil to comply with the Supreme Court Judgement of April 20th.
The Chairman of PENGASSAN, ExxonMobil branch, Mr. Razaq Obe, who said this in an interview at Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom called for an immediate reinstatement of personnel of the security department, who were unlawfully sacked on July 13 and the payment of all entitlements due them as employees.
“We rise in solidarity with these oppressed Nigerians to express our total disagreement and utter displeasure at Management’s action, we hereby give management up to close of business Wednesday, July 18 to meet our demands, failure to comply, the management should not hold the Union responsible for any unpleasant outcome,” Obe said.
He further hinted that the union demanded the management of ExxonMobil to immediately reinstate the 16 employees purportedly sacked in Dec. 2016 in a similar fashion.
He called for the immediate repatriation of over 20 expert personnel in security department who had been engaged and kept in defiance of extant Nigerian laws and security directives.
“Management’s last week action confirms its plan to perpetuate its newly-resurrected, primordial Theory-X labour philosophy, which is alien to the Nigerian oil and gas industry and will be resisted by our Union.
“As a union, we have studied the details of the Supreme Court judgement with our legal team and have not seen therein where the company was directed to carry out mass sack of impacted employees in security department as captured by the subject of your communication to the workforce,” Obe said.
Meanwhile, the sacked personnel had on early hours of Monday, barricaded the premises of Qua Iboe Terminal (QIT) thereby disrupting the activities of the day. The protesters denied some staff and contractors of the company access to the premises by placing coffins at each gate of the company.
The ExxonMobil facilities blocked included Hotels, Mobil Housing Estates, Airstrips, Lagos and Abuja Qua Iboe Terminal, Ibeno their operational base in Akwa Ibom.
Speaking, Mr Godwin Ndem, Security Personnel at the company, said ExxonMobil should comply with the Supreme Court judgement of April 20.
He called on the company to pay them their entitlements based on the numbers of years of service to the company.
“We have been maltreated for so many years, we have been underpaid, our welfare was not taken care of, one of our managers said if we have a case to settle that we should go to court.
“We have been in the court for 15 years, luckily for us, in April 20th, the Supreme Court gave us a judgment and confirmed us to be their staff.
“They directed Exxon Mobil to pay us all our entitlements for the numbers of years we have put in the company.
“We want them to comply with the Supreme Court judgement, that is why we are carrying out a peaceful protest,” Ndem said.
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