Kunle Kalejaye
11 August 2016, Sweetcrude, Lagos — The Kaduna Zone of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN has reiterated its plan to empower its members against all vagaries effects of the global oil price plunge that is affecting the industry and the Nigeria economy as a whole.
According to the senior staff trade union in a statement signed by the Chairman of Kaduna Zone of PENGASSAN, Comrade Abubakar Yusuf, despite major advancements in labour and management relations in Nigeria during the past decades, there still persists considerable distrust and antagonism among parties involve in industrial relations.
As a way of reducing the frictions and distrust among the parties, he noted that the zone has packaged a 3-day workshop with the theme: “Global trend & security challenges in Oil & gas Industry in Nigeria, critical challenges and prospects from all stakeholder’s perspectives,” in Minna, Niger State between August 16 and 18.
Comrade Yusuf said that the workshop, which will be declared open by the Governor of Niger State, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, will explore the developments, analytically, consequently and explanation for the major peculiarities of “empowering member” in Nigeria system of industrial relations.
“The main rationale of the workshop is to bring all stakeholders together to identify the current global trend in the oil and gas industry, examine security challenges in the sector, know the labour challenges of the post-Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, identify challenges confronting unions and managements on issues of Collective Bargaining Agreement, CBA, and address labour issues and legal challenges in corporate restructuring, outsourcing and causal/contract system of employment.
He stated that with the ongoing reforms in the oil and gas sector, there is need to also have a general overview on industrial relations system in the industry so as to address the labour welfare from the employment till retirement, adding that at the end of the workshop, participants will be able to come up with an acceptable equilibrium or template among the various stakeholders.
