NUPENG Set to Go on Nationwide Warning Strike Jan 9

The Nigeria Union of Pe­troleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG)s members would begin a three-day nationwide warning strike by January 9, 2017 against the anti-labour practice of Interna­tional Oil Companies (IOCs).
The South-West Chairman of the union, Alhaji Tokunbo Ko­rodu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the warning strike was inevitable be­cause all other options had failed.

According to Korodo, “We are not gaining anything by going on strike because it is not a joyful thing but as a union, we have to protect and fight for the welfare of our members.
“We have sensitised the pub­lic and also seek the interven­tion of the federal government over the anti-labour activities of IOCs on our members but we are not getting results.
“Our members that put in their best within the duration of time they worked were not paid their severance packages by their employers when they sacked them.
“This is a big slap and it will not be allowed.
“What they are practising here in Nigeria, they cannot practise in their countries, so that is why we say enough is enough.
“We will take the bull by the horn’’, he said.
The chairman said that what led to the planned warning strike was inherited by the pres­ent administration while some occurred within the same gov­ernment.
“250 members of our union were affected by the divestment by Chevron Nigeria Ltd in the South-East.
“And this is giving us a seri­ous concern because they can­not feed their families.
“The Minister of Labour, Sen Chris Ngige, asked all parties to maintain the status-quo ante and we complied because we re­spect the authority.
“But the IOCs seem to be above the law or more power­ful than the government, they failed to maintain the status-quo ante being amicably agreed to both parties.
“Chevron had to tell our 250 members that their contract with it was no more binding because it cannot trace the com­pany that employed them as contract workers for it.
“The minister said Chevron had to pay the sacked workers but its management refused to comply.
“It got to a time when Sena­tor Ngige called for a meeting in Abuja to mediate; at times its representatives would not show up.
“We would risk our lives and resources to Abuja, no IOCs member would come.
“Even when their representa­tives came, they would be those without a mandate to represent the organisation just to frustrate the discussion’’, he said.
He alleged that all other IOCs in the country were involved in these anti-labour practices.
“We do not want the public to see the strike as if we are unnec­essarily punishing Nigerians.
“That’s why we are using this period to protest by asking tanker drivers to hang green leaves on their trucks and our members to wear red cloth.
“By next year, if our griev­ances are not addressed within this period, we will proceed on a three-day warning strike.
“If the government and peo­ple concerned are not able to ap­prehend and resolve it, we may be forced to turn the strike into an indefinite one’’, he said.