Oscarline Onwuemenyi
19 December 2015, Sweetcrude, Abuja — The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers has warned the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation against the plan to sack about 1,100 employees of the corporation.
The oil workers’ union, in a statement on Friday, said it would resist the impending job losses, which it says, is contrary to the job creation mantra of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
NUPENG expressed surprise that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, had made a statement regarding the proposed action without any consultation with the union and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN.
Kachikwu had reportedly said in Abuja on Wednesday that he had received the Federal Government’s approval to commence the final phase of the restructuring of the NNPC’s, in which about 1,100 of the headquarters’ staff would be disengaged.
The union declared that it would resist the proposed retrenchment and embark on a joint protest with PENGASSAN if the two oil unions in the sector were not consulted.
NUPENG said it would not watch its members, who have served the corporation for years, thrown into unemployment arising from inconsistent policies of the government.
The President, NUPENG, Igwe Achese, described the NNPC workers as the best, saying they were dedicated to their jobs even when they had to work with obsolete equipment in an indecent environment.
Rather than sacking them, Achese said that the workers should be commended.
He advised the government to convene a major stakeholders’ meeting to examine the challenges facing the sector, especially the non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill and proffer solutions.
Achese added that the current policy of the NNPC to engage casual workers was against extant labour laws of the country and
should not be considered.
