By Uche Onyeali
Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, has suspended its nationwide strike which commenced on Monday, September 29.
President of the association, Festus Osifo announced the suspension of the industrial action at a press conference in Abuja, yesterday.
According to Osifo, “We are suspending and will be monitoring closely.
“Any slip on the part of Dangote, any part of this agreement or any communiqué put out by the ministry of labour that is broken, we will not give any notice; we will resume this suspended industrial action.”
AljazirahNigeria had reported that PENGASSAN on Friday, September 26 instructed its members to embark on a nationwide strike over the dismissal of workers by Dangote Refinery.
However, as part of measures to address the industrial dispute, Dangote Group agreed to redeploy the sacked workers.
It would be recalled that the National Industrial Court in Abuja on Tuesday, September 30 restrained PENGASSAN from embarking on its planned nationwide strike against Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Ruling on an ex-parte application by Dangote Refinery, Justice Emmanuel Danjuma restrained the association from its threat to cut crude and gas supply to the refinery.
Other defendants in the suit include Nigeria National Petroleum Company Ltd, NNPCL, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, and the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC.
Dangote Refinery was represented by George Ibrahim (SAN).
PENGASSAN had instructed its members to embark on a nationwide strike starting from September 29 over alleged mass dismissal of 800 workers by Dangote Refinery.
The association had in a circular signed by its General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, after an emergency National Executive Council, NEC, meeting on Saturday, September 27, accused the refinery of violating Nigeria’s labour laws, the constitution and International Labour Organisation’s conventions by dismissing workers for joining a union.
NEC alleged that the refinery had replaced the dismissed staff with “over 2,000 Indians,” an action which it described as an affront to all workers in Nigeria.
In that regard, it directed its members in field locations to down tools from Sunday and ordered a total nationwide shutdown across offices, companies, institutions and agencies.
