At last, PENGASSAN suspends strike as Dangote recalls sacked workers
At last, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), has called off its war against Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
The call off is as result of the intervention of federal government between rift between Dangote Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Dangote has agreed to recall the sacked 800 staff even as PENGASSAN has called off the strike.
After hours of negotiations supervised by the Federal Government, the parties agreed that the industrial action embarked upon by the union will be called off immediately, while the sacked employees of Dangote Refinery will be reinstated.
Present at the conciliation meeting were: the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu; Minister of Labour and Employment, Maigari Dingyadi; Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu and the Minister of State for Labour and Employment.
They also included the Director General, Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi; DG National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mohammed Mohammed and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Also present or represented were: The Chief Executives of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) as well as representatives of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
Dr Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi,the Minister of Labour and Employment, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.
The Minister of Labour told the meeting that unionisation is a right of workers in accordance with the laws of Nigeria, and this right should be respected, the statement said.
According to the statement, 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.
It added: “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.”
