…As Fuel stations continue to sell fuel
Indications emerged on Tuesday that the strike embarked upon by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers, NUPENG, will continue, as neither Dangote Group nor members of the organised labour showed up at the negotiation table on Tuesday in Abuja but the strike has remained ineffective in Abuja, as petrol stations continued their businesses unhindered.
The federal government-led peace talks, brokered by Muhammad Dingyadi, the Minister of Labour and Employment, had collapsed on Monday, when the parties could not reach an agreement.
Read also: NUPENG strike continues as FG negotiation stalls
As of Tuesday, they could not give reasons why both the Dangote Group and the Organised Labour failed to show up for further negotiations.
BusinessDay gathered that the bone of contention revolves around whether to make unionism compulsory or voluntary for all Dangote Group workers.
It was gathered that while Dangote is insisting on voluntary unionism, the organised labour said it must be compulsory for all workers to unionise in all the establishments owned by the Group.
Patience Onuobia, the Director of Information in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, in a telephone chat with BusinessDay, insisted that the Ministry was expecting both parties to continue their negotiation on Tuesday, as earlier announced by the Minister.
“What my Minister said on Monday night still stands. We are expecting them to continue their negotiation today ( Tuesday).
As at 4 pm, however, there was no sign that any meeting was going to be held, as most of the Ministry’s staff had left for home.
The Minister, while briefing Journalists after the meeting on Monday, admitted that the meeting ended in a stalemate, as some of the issues couldn’t be resolved.
“There are issues that we have not been able to reach a final agreement on. We had a stalemate, and we are trying to resolve the issues.
The Minister noted that ” since it was getting late and most are on their way to Lagos this night. So we had to call off the thing until tomorrow”
He, however, expressed confidence that all the contentious issues were going to be resolved on Tuesday.
According to him, ” Both parties have tried to listen and cooperate, but you know, as negotiations are, there are issues that they may not agree on, but we believe that by tomorrow (Tuesday), we should be able to resolve these issues by the Grace of God.”
Meanwhile, most filling stations visited in Abuja on Tuesday were actively selling their petroleum products.
For the first time, however, Nigerians did not engage in the usual panic buying of fuel, which was the hallmark of such threats by petroleum truck drivers, marketers and distributors.
At the AA Shaffa filling station, only a few cars were seen buying fuel, as most of the pump attendants were idle due to low patronage.
One of the attendants, Rubeka Isah, told BusinessDay that no one had instructed them to stop selling fuel.
Read also: FG, NUPENG, Dangote in crucial meeting to halt strike
Before now, it was usual for petrol station owners to shut down their filling stations in anticipation of fuel scarcity.
“We have enough stock and no one has asked us to stop selling fuel”
Also at the Total filling station, a stone’s throw from the Police headquarters, Abuja, the filling station was busy as usual.
One of the attendants, who simply gave her name as Rosemary, stated that although they are aware of the NUPENG strike, the filling station managers did not ask them to stop selling fuel to motorists.
“We are aware of the strike, but it has yet to get here.”
