The strike embarked upon by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers, NUPENG, continues on Tuesday, following the inability of the federal government-led negotiation team to broker peace between the organised labour and Dangote Group on Monday.
Negotiation stalled Monday night as Sayyu Dantata, who represented the Dangote Group, walked out on Muhammad Dingyadi, the Minister of Labour and Employment, representing the federal government and also on the labour team.
BusinessDay reported that both parties could not agree on whether all workers should be allowed to join the unions.
Inside sources revealed that while the Dangote Group favours the inclusion of a clause that makes membership of a union a matter of choice, the Nigeria Labour Congress insisted that all workers should be part of workers’ unions.
The Minister, while briefing Journalists after the meeting, 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 by tomorrow, we should be able to resolve these issues.
Read also: NUPENG strike continues as FG–Dangote talks collapse
According to him, ” Both parties have tried to listen and cooperate, but you know, as negotiations go, 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.
The Minister, however, appealed to all the parties to try to maintain peace, adding that ” I believe by tomorrow, we should be able to get both parties to agree on all the issues”
But Benson Upah, acting Secretary of the NLC, regretted that the representative of the Dangote Group had to walk out of the meeting, according to him,” even when we bent backwards to accommodate his uncompromising behaviour, he still did what he had.
“So, we are left with no option but to do the needful.
The Union insisted that the ” strike action continues”,
The Labour union, when asked if there are possibilities of early resolution of the impasse, said the buck is on the Dangote Group’s table.
“That is not for us to decide; it takes more than one party to resolve. So, whenever the representative of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery sees the need for a dialogue, we are ready, even if he comes back tonight, we are ready for him.
When also asked if they had weighed the impact the strike will have on Nigerians, the NLC stated that it would be wrong to put the labour on the defensive.
” Do not put the Unions on the defensive, I want you to speak courageously to the misbehaviour of this gentle man.
Williams Akporeha, National President of NUPENG, in his comments, said the action of Labour is also in the interest of Nigerians.
” We cannot stand to see an investor, whose main purpose is to come and enslave Nigerians, take us back to the dark days of slavery.
” Nigerians have wished him so well as to enslave them. So, it is unfortunate that at this point, we have an investor who says there can’t be a union in his establishment.
” He wants to monopolise the entire system and even monopolise the workers with them, and we say it cannot happen in our time.”
Recall that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had earlier issued a ” Red Alert” to the federal government and the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company, calling for the immediate stoppage of ” unfair labour practices within the Dangote Group.
The labour Union in a statement signed by Joe Ajaero, President of the NLC, called for ” the immediate unionisation of not just Dangote Refinery but all the other entities within the Dangote Group.”
The action was in solidarity with its affiliate, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG),
The NLC had condemned what it described as ” crude and dangerous anti-union practices, monopolistic agenda, and indicative industrial relationships strategies of the Dangote Group.
The NLC stated that such policies by ” Dangote and his associates are directly in violation of Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, the Labour Act, and ILO Conventions 98 and 87 on Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise and Collectively Bargain (ratified by Nigeria in 1960).”
In the ultimatum, the NLC demands the “immediate unionisation of not just Dangote Refinery but all the other entities within the group.
The NLC also placed the entire Nigerian workers, State Councils and industrial unions in Nigeria “on Red Alert.”
They also vowed to mobilise a united front of resistance against the Dangote Group’s anti-worker agenda and support the proposed industrial action by NUPENG.
The workers’ umbrella union said history will hold the Federal Government and its regulatory institutions, especially the Nigerian Midstream & Downstream Petroleum Authority, complicit if they continue to look the other way while a few individuals privatise the nation’s energy future and enslave its workforce.
We warn that if Dangote continues on this reckless anti-union path, the NLC and its affiliates will move beyond words to action.
“We will confront this tyranny head-on until victory is secured for Nigerian workers and the Nigerian people.
“Let it be clearly understood, if the Dangote Group does not immediately halt its anti-union and anti-people agenda, we will not hesitate to mobilise all workers across the length and breadth of this country for actions and solidarity necessary to protect our dignity and to defend Nigeria from the clutches of monopoly capital.”
The Union, therefore, called on the Federal Government to immediately call Aliko Dangote and Sayyu Dantata to order.
“Their operations must comply with all Nigerian labour laws and international conventions.”
