*Says Unionisation Is Employees’ Right, Should Be Respected
*Dangote Group To Redeploy Sacked Workers To Subsidiaries Without Pay Loss, Victimisation
*PENGASSAN To Call Off Strike
THE Federal Government has resolved the face-off between the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) after two days of conciliation meetings lengthy.
A statement in the early hours of Wednesday, October 1, by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi, said the matter was resolved after lengthy discussions.
The statement listed the resolutions reached to include: “The Honourable Minister of Labour informed the meeting that unionisation is a right of workers in accordance with the laws of Nigeria, and this right should be respected.
“After examining the procedure used in the disengagement of workers, the meeting agreed that the management of Dangote Group shall immediately begin the process of redeploying the disengaged staff to other companies within the Dangote Group, with no loss of pay.
“No worker will be victimised arising from their role in the impasse between Dangote and PENGASSAN.
“PENGASSAN agreed to start the process of calling off the strike. Both parties agreed to this understanding in good faith.”
The government delegation at the meeting included Dingyadi; National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu; Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu; Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha; Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Adeola Ajayi; and the Director General of the NIA, Mohammed Mohammed, among others.
An earlier meeting on Monday, September 29, between PENGASSAN and the Dangote Refinery management over the industrial dispute, which commenced around 4 pm, stretched into the early hours of Tuesday, September 30, and ended in deadlock.
Following the stalemate, Dingyadi announced that the talks would reconvene by 2 pm on Tuesday, around 3:50 p.m. at the Office of the NSA and lasted into the early hours of Wednesday until the deadlock was broken and the resolution arrived at.
The face-off was a result of PENGASSAN’s allegations against Dangote Refinery’s mass transfers and sack of union members, while also replacing some Nigerians with foreign nationals, which the company vehemently denied.
The Federal Government intervened as concerns mounted over the impact of the dispute on Nigerians and the economy.
Following the resolution, the Federal Government (FG) has ordered the Dangote Group to immediately begin the process to redeploy the 800 Nigerian workers sacked from Dangote Refinery into other subsidiaries within the group without any loss of pay.
In the same spirit, PENGASSAN was to immediately commence the process of calling off the nationwide strike it declared and direct its members to resume gas and crude oil supply and other services to Dangote Refinery.
Both parties pledged to implement the resolutions in good faith.
