Hyacinth Chinweuba/Ijeoma Agudosi
President of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG ) comrade Igwe Achese has disclosed that over 3,000 workers in the oil and gas sector have lost their jobs since the country slipped into recession while many others have been rendered redundant.
Speaking at the 3-day NUPENG National Education seminar in Abuja, Achese said that the recession has led to a great decline in the Union`s finance as the union solely relies on check-off dues, adding that the union has to look for a way out, else it would not be able to pay salaries of its secretariat staff.
He expressed concern over the current spate of redundancies in the sector and called on the Federal Government to intervene and prevail on the multi-national/ service companies to stop the spate of retrenchment, which he said is occurring daily in the industry.
He said, “We will continue to resist attempts by the multinational to outsource jobs that have existed for several years in spite of efforts of the union to create a conducive environment for our members to work. Contract staffing and outsourcing are modern day slavery which must be resisted.
We therefore urged the Federal Government and the National Assembly to expedite action on the passage of the anti-casualisation bill pending at the National Assembly.’’
The NUPENG President also sought the intervention of the Federal Governmnet over unresolved labour issues with Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC), ExxonMobil, Chevron Nigeria limited, Tecon Oil services, Universal Energy Services Limited and Pan Ocean.
He said that if the anti labour activities of the six -oil companies were not put in check at the expiration of the union`s 21-day ultimatum next week, the union would embark on a nationwide industrial action.