PENGASSAN Vows to Resume Strike if Dangote Fails to Reinstates Workers

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has warned that it will resume its suspended strike against the Dangote Refinery if the management fails to address unresolved labour issues, including the reinstatement of over 800 sacked Nigerian workers.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, clarified that the union never signed the communiqué circulated after the government-brokered meeting that temporarily ended the industrial action.

Osifo explained that the communiqué was merely a statement issued by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammadu Dingyadi, who acted as chief conciliator during the talks.

“If you see that communiqué, we did not sign it. Normally, it is supposed to be signed by three parties. We did not sign because we felt that some things in it were not okay with us,” Osifo said on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Thursday.

The nationwide strike, which began on Sunday, was suspended on Wednesday following federal government intervention. However, Osifo stressed that the action was suspended in good faith to allow members return to work, not because the refinery’s management had resolved the issues.

He emphasised that PENGASSAN’s key demand remains the immediate reinstatement of the sacked Nigerian workers, whom the union said were illegally replaced with over 2,000 expatriates.

“The release that Dangote made on workers sabotaging the economy was totally incorrect. If we had allowed that sabotage tag to stand, those 800 people would not be able to secure jobs in the future. Clearing that was a very big win,” Osifo added.

The PENGASSAN president warned that the union would not hesitate to resume strike action if the refinery failed to honour commitments and reinstate the affected workers.

“If Dangote does not do the needful, our tools are always available. We will never get tired of struggling for what is right. We have been around for 50 years before the Dangote Refinery came on stream,” he declared.

PUNCH