Oil unions turn strikes as tool for economic sabotage
The penchant of oil workers unions in Nigeria to resort to strikes which paralyses the economy to press home every demand or express discontent at every unfavourable action has begun to reek of sheer economic sabotage demanding serious actions.
This has sent the NNPC into a fuel buying spree, offering a potential respite to European refineries and storage terminals threatened by an oversupply that has battered margins, the workers unions may keep the supply from getting to consumers who need it.
Shipping and trade sources told Reuters last week that imports of gasoline to West Africa, including Nigeria, from Europe were expected to top 1 million tonnes in December, compared with 700,000 tonnes in October and roughly 800,000 tonnes in November.
However, this is not felt on the streets as long fuel queues continued in major cities in Nigeria after the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), called off an industrial action, it embarked upon last week after talks with government agencies ended in deadlock.
A statement by PENGASSEN said it was going on strikes because private companies laid off workers. “The case of Neconde Energy Ltd (of Nestoil Group of companies) is particularly worrisome as the issue of dignity in labour and infringement on workers’ rights to freedom of Association is foreign to them leading to mass sack of workers that joined the Union and dehumanization of same in total disregard to rule of engagement and the laws of the land.
“PENGASSAN gives the Federal Government and its relevant Agencies seven (7) days’ notice to embark on a nationwide strike effective December 18, 2017 if government fails to direct the Management of Neconde and other companies to recall our sacked members as the only option to address this injustice and lawlessness,” said the statement.
However, analysts say internal disagreements between oil companies and their staff should not halt the country’s economy.
“A situation where one of the employers in the sector has decided to relieve certain people from employment and you are now fighting for those people and saying until they take them back, you will proceed on strike without finding why they were relieved, if they were guilty of certain offences or breached their own contracts and give an ultimatum for strike amounts to abuse of power,” says Olu Akinola, a legal expert and managing partner of Stonewaters Lawfirm.
Akinola further said that strike is not an absolute right as there are limitations. “There is conditions precedent before anyone can call on a strike, like the issue of giving notice, negotiate on certain terms and it is when those terms are broken down within the normal standard labour practices that you are allowed to call on strike
Speaking on the issue, Henry Biose, a petroleum economics and policy researcher with the University of Port Harcourt, said the best practice is for parties to a dispute to come to the negotiation table. “For me, an internal disagreement should not lead to national strike; it is like holding the government to ransom.
“Every company is tailored towards profit making so in a measure of trying to optimise their system by laying off people, the union should only make sure the companies following the prescribed labour laws. They can insist on their members getting their benefits, but they cannot detail the profit a company can make,” said Biose.
But Nigeria’s oil workers see strikes as the only solution to labour disputes. Since 2015, these oil unions have embarked upon a half a dozen industrial actions and none has been completely resolved. Strikes are planned at peak demand period, usually towards the end of year to complete the shakedown, BusinessDay gathers.
However, Nigeria is partly culpable as it has not shown commitment to keep agreements in some of the disputes, it has had with them.
PENGASSEN which largely consists of oil workers in upstream companies while the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) operates in the downstream sector but a disagreement with either the government or any company in either sector can lead to collective strike action.
ISAAC ANYAOGU