By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has extended the 14-day ultimatum earlier given to the federal government by one week.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by the union’s General Secretary, Mr Afolabi Olawale, in Lagos.
He said that in spite of the various interventions and engagements with government agencies and institutions, issues concerning the welfare of members and unfair labour practices by some oil majors had yet to be fully resolved.
Business Post had reported that NUPENG issued the 14-day ultimatum on November 15, threatening to embark on a nationwide strike due to what it called non-implementation of an agreement earlier reached with the government.
The issues at stake include non-payment of workers’ salaries and title benefits, among others.
In the latest statement, Mr Olawale said, “Leadership of the union is still exercising further patience and restraint to give the ongoing discussions the chances of resolving these issues once and for all.”
“The decision of the union to give another seven-day ultimatum should not be misconstrued as a sign of capitulation or weakness.
“Rather, it is a demonstration of our resolve not to inflict unnecessary pains on Nigerians or create any form of artificial scarcity of petroleum products,” he said.
The NUPENG general secretary urged the government and all other concerned entities to take advantage of the extension to do the needful.
“It is our hope that government does the needful and save the nation the pains and losses our industrial action will bring,” he said.
Oil majors had recently come under renewed scrutiny from many groups for their role in the country with issues ranging from employees welfare to oil spills to taxation.
Modupe Gbadeyanka