Oscarline Onwuemenyi
09 May 2017, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has called on the Federal Government to embrace the use of dialogue to resolve the lingering impasse between the management of Capital Oil and Gas Limited and the Department of State Services (DSS), over the illegal sale of petroleum products stored in their tank farm by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
The union stated that workers have the right to protest the non-payment of their salaries and allowances and that the Federal Government should secure the jobs of those working in the sector.
NUPENG, in a statement signed by its President, Comrade Igwe Achese, stressed that although it does not support the illegal diversion and sale of petroleum products, it was of the opinion that the Federal Government cannot sit still and watch workers lose their jobs.
The Union also made reference to the case of Seawolf Oil Services that was taken over by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in which it says workers are yet to be paid their backlog of salaries and entitlements for over five years.
“NUPENG believes that the job creation mantra of the government should be allowed to play, rather than paving way for job losses as it is the case of the current closure of Capital Oil.”
It therefore called on the government to allow the 2,000 workers to resume work at the depot and load products so that their salaries can be paid, “instead of throwing them into the unemployment market for no fault of theirs”.
