Mkpoikana Udoma
02 October 2018, Sweetcrude, Port Harcourt — Oil industry workers, under the aegis of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, have warned the management of Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, against the disengagement of its members under her employment after the end of their contract.
Recall that there has been an industrial face-off between oil workers’ unions in the country and CNL over workers casualisation in the company and its disclosure that contracts with all its manpower services providers would expire by October 2018.
The oil workers said the issue of casualisation of Nigerian workers must be reviewed while lamenting the manner Chevron’s contractual staff were structured.
PENGASSAN Chairman, Port Harcourt Zone, Mr. Azubuike Azubuike, told our correspondent exclusively that the crux of the matter was Chevron’s penchant for hiring and firing contractors and contract workers at will, adding that the labour unions have tried to dialogue with the company on the matter to no avail.
Azubuike said the two oil workers’ unions are to meet with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, and the management of Chevron, warning that if the company did not meet the demands of the unions, they will withdraw their services indefinitely, which would affect the upstream, midstream and downstream segments of the oil and gas industry.
He explained that Chevron gives contract jobs to contractors, but, withdraws such at will and gives to another contractor. “So, people will be on contract jobs for years without improvement.
“Now, instead of staffing these contract workers, they will close the contractual agreement and go ahead to give the contract to another contractor. The new contractor will now have a new set of workers to hire.
“So we said, even if you don’t want to continue with contractor A, you’ll have to roll the workers into the new contractor and they said no, the new contractor should hire whoever he wishes,” Azubuike explained.
