The president of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Francis Olabode Johnson, has restated the commitment of the union to fight against government policies that negatively affect the Nigerian worker in both the public and private sectors of the economy.
Johnson stated this at the 40th anniversary celebration of the union held in Abuja recently.
He stated that PENGASSAN, registered on 15th August 1978 to promote, protect and improve through collective action, the social and economic interests of the senior and middle management employees in the oil and gas sector, has remained a notable pressure group that continues to play a huge role in nation building.
He said, “The association and its allies like NUPENG, NLC and TUC were at the forefront of the fight for the democracy that the country relishes today. The fearless, patriotic and irrepressible leadership of the association, gave their all to regain and secure our democratic liberty despite the intimidation, victimisation and harassment of the military junta.”
Johnson also noted that the country no longer derives maximum benefit from oil and gas operations, adding that the union had collaborated with other agencies for the passage of the Nigerian Content Law to enable Nigerians to take ownership of the operations in the industry through the transfer of technical know-how and use of local raw materials.
“We are also resilient in the struggle to restore normalcy to the downstream sector in 2016. We supported the new Joint Venture cash call framework and the NNPC reforms. Currently, we are at the forefront in engaging the executive and legislature on the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill,” he added.
He said one of the challenges affecting the oil & gas industry is that the indigenous oil companies continued to engage in anti-labour practices by implementing a “union free workplace” and by threatening employees that are engaging in collective activity and promising unattainable incentives if they stopped identifying with the labour union.
“In the International Oil Companies, we have issues with the duration of contract jobs. Some of the contract employments are so short that one wonders how the employee will plan a life with such short term employments.
“Furthermore, the contractors are changed after almost every term and the workers face the issue of whether they will be dropped with the ending of the contract or absorbed into the new one.
“This is why we implore the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) to look into this and ensure that the contract worker is well protected.
“Our Legal system equally poses its own danger in the sense that some labour cases drag for years in the courts and the workers get wearied or even die without getting justice for the wrong suffered.”
He appealed to the government to look into the labour laws and strengthen the provisions to protect the contract worker in the light of contemporary challenges.
