The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association has alerted the government and Nigerians of its determination to join the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers in every protest and action to be undertaken in the event that the management of Shell Petroleum Development Company management fails to recall the sacked NUPENG members as directed by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu.
According to a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of PENGASSAN, Comrade Zaid Kolawole, the protest and industrial actions will be jointly planned under the NUPENGASSAN platform to ensure that the SPDC management complies with the minister’s directive.
Wogu had, during a mediation meeting between NUPENG and the management of Shell, directed the Anglo-Dutch company to recall the sacked workers on or before December 4, 2012.
In the statement, PENGASSAN alleged that information reaching the union was that the management of Shell is contemplating circumventing the directive by the Minister of Labour and Productivity by planning that the affected NUPENG officers and members shall only be recalled to their jobs from which they were unjustly disengaged as casual workers.
This, PENGASSAN said, is totally unacceptable to both NUPENG and PENGASSAN as it is repugnant to the principles of natural justice and decent work.
Kolawole said in the statement: “Going by PENGASSAN’s recent distasteful experience with the same Shell management on their complicity in aiding and abetting unethical and anti-union behavior by some elements of the in-house PENGASSAN branch in Shell, and for which we have severally engaged them without a mutually acceptable resolution, PENGASSAN is poised to pull all its weight and join forces with NUPENG to restore decent work and labour dignity in Shell with the ultimate goal of forestalling Shell’s anti-labour practices and incessant interference in union matters.”
It would be recalled that the present crisis arose from Shell management’s undue interference in union administration in the company.
The national leadership of NUPENG had sought for explanation from its in-house Shell branch over its manner and conduct in engagement with Shell management in its divestment of oil blocks, without involving NUPENG leadership and/or its national secretariat.
Normally, such discussion, by the union rules and procedures, requires that the NUPENG national secretariat provides the lead and gives the required mandate to the in-house Shell branch in order to strengthen their engagement with Shell management and essentially mitigate the attendant job loss implications.
As a Union , NUPENG later reacted to the Shell in-house Branch Executive Council’s failure to respond to the given query by setting up its Investigation Committee on the matter to further give room for fair hearing, but the Shell in-house branch executive failed to appear before the Investigation Committee as required.
Consequently, the NUPENG National Executive Council, the highest decision making organ of the union, met on the issue and decided that the Shell in-house branch executive council be dissolved for undermining union unity and disrespect to constituted authority.
A caretaker Committee was the put in place accordingly.
Shell management was accordingly informed of the meeting and decision of the union to that effect, but the Shell management refused to recognize the Caretaker Committee as communicated by the National Secretariat of NUPENG.
To further compound issues and patently show its hands, NUPENG alleged that the Shell management maliciously outsourced its Fire and Safety Department because most of the officers in the Caretaker Committee work in that department.
NUPENG said it protested against this ill-motived outsourcing of Shell’s Fire and Safety Department but rather than engage the union, the management of Shell resorted to victimizing the Union Caretaker Committee officers by first transferring them to other departments and thereafter terminating their employment.
NUPENG said it has followed all the procedural steps to seek engagement with Shell management but Shell has refused to respond to all the requests for engagement.
NUPENG said it was thus compelled to issue an ultimatum to demand for the reinstatement of all the sacked officers and 15 other affected members.
It said as the management of Shell still maintains its position not to engage the NUPENG as stated in the ultimatum, NUPENG was left with no choice but to picket Shell offices and operations to press for the recall of the sacked officers and members.
Wogu, NUPENG said, has accordingly intervened and directed the management of SPDC to recall the sacked officers and members on or before December 4, 2012.
It said despite this, the management of Shell has vehemently maintained its objection to the directive by Wogu by insinuating that the affected NUPENG officers and members shall only be recalled as casual workers.