Scarcity of petroleum products may soon hit the country as members of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) continue their strike on Tuesday after negotiations between the Federal Government, organised labour, and the Dangote Group hit a roadblock late Monday in Abuja.
This came as NUPENG officials stopped fuel loading activities across depots nationwide on Monday, and kicked against Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s alleged ban on workers’ unionism.
Talks broke down after Sayyu Dantata, who represented the Dangote Group, reportedly walked out on Labour Minister Muhammad Dingyadi and the labour delegation during discussions over the unionisation of Dangote Refinery workers.
The meeting had in attendance the national executives of NUPENG and officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC). Also present was the Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Ogbugo Ukoha, as well as representatives of the Dangote Group and MRS Petroleum.
The meeting was co-chaired by Dingyadi and the Minister of State for Labour, Nkeiru Onyejeocha.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, Dingyadi admitted the talks collapsed.
“There are issues we have not been able to reach a final agreement on. Since it was getting late and some of the parties were travelling to Lagos, we had to call off the meeting until tomorrow. But I am confident that by tomorrow, we should be able to resolve these issues,” Dingyadi said.
The NLC, however, accused the Dangote representative of deliberately frustrating negotiations.
“Even when we bent backwards to accommodate his uncompromising behaviour, he still walked out. We are left with no option but to do the needful. The strike action continues,” the acting Secretary of the NLC, Benson Upah, said.
NUPENG President Williams Akporeha said the union’s action was in defence of Nigerian workers, accusing Dangote of attempting to “enslave” employees.
Credit: channelstv.com
