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By Chukwuma Umeorah
As talks about the removal of subsidy grow stronger, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has called on the federal government to ensure that the local refineries are fully operational before the subsidy is removed so as to protect the interests of Nigerians.
In a statement signed by the National President, NUPENG, Williams Akporeha and the General Secretary, Afolabi Olawale, the union also lamented the harsh working conditions faced by the union and its members and called on the authorities concerned to take necessary actions to address these issues.
“Blue-collar workers in the Nigeria Oil and Gas sector have continued to lament the increasing degeneration, indecency and precariousness of employment and working conditions in the industry.”
“We condemn in totality the anti-union behaviour and employment tactics of some unscrupulous indigenous and multi-national employers who have unfortunately turned the Nigeria Local Content Law into the ambit of slavery and precarious employment rather than a source of fulfilling employment and empowerment for teeming qualified young Nigerians,” it noted.
While adding that workers in the oil and gas sector are being exploited, unappreciated and their existence threatened the Union, however, urged its workers to remain united in hope.
The statement further stated that the leadership of the union was also using the special day of May 1, to commend the patriotic efforts of petroleum tanker drivers who even in the face of harsh conditions of work, including the poor state of highways, intimidation and harassment from some unscrupulous security forces, were still working hard to ensure that factories and other businesses are kept running and homes are kept comfortable for Nigerians.
“The union would no longer condone unwarranted attacks, intimidation and burning of their petroleum trucks while on genuine and legal haulage of petroleum products by some security agents most especially among the Nigeria Army Anti-Bunkering Task Force operating in the South-South region of the country.”
The union maintained that henceforth they would resist this because they cannot continue to fold their hands and watch members lose their sources of livelihood in the hands of those armed men.
