PENGASSAN advocates review of Nigeria’s labour laws

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has called for a review of Nigeria’s labour law; saying that the legal system poses a serious danger in the oil and gas industry.

The association made the passionate appeal as it marks its 40 years anniversary in Abuja, and honoured some institutions and individuals who have positively impacted on society beyond the call of duty. The individuals, who were in five categories include President Muhammadu Buhari, and its past presidents and the general secretaries.

The President of PENGASSAN, Comrade Olabode Johnson, while delivering his speech at the 40th anniversary celebration held at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja stated that the weak labour laws promote casualisation and labour inefficiency in the country.

Olabode, stressed the urgent need to review and strengthen the extant labour laws; and urge the Federal Government to do so urgently.

The PENGASSAN President said: “Our Legal system equally poses its own danger in the sense that some labour cases drag for years in the court and the workers get weary or even die without getting justice for the wrong sufferness.  We appeal to the government to look into our labour laws and strengthen the provisions to protect the contract worker in the light of contemporary challenges.”

Besides, he said the state of the economic remains the biggest challenge in the injury and to the trade unions, adding that the present sorry state was as a result of the failure of the leadership class who have ruled since Nigeria independent.

He said: “Be that as it may, the socio economic  state of the Nation remains our biggest challenge. Nigeria is a country richly endowed with natural resources and high quality human capital. However, issues of insecurity, ethnic division, infrastructural decay, nepotism, unemployment, impunity, illegal migrations, capital flight, abuse of power, and recklessness of some members of the political class continue to hinder the growth of our economy.

“This current state of the Nation is the direct consequence of the actions or inactions of the leadership class that has managed the affairs of the country since independence and if not positively addressed, major investments will continue to elude us as a Nation.”

According to him, one of the other challenges facing the trade union is that “some of the indigenous oil companies continue to engage in anti-labour practices, they develop strategies for a indecent workplace by threatening employees that are engaging on collective activity and promising unattainable incentives if they stop identifying with the Labour Union.

“In the International Oil Companies, we have issues with the duration of contract jobs. Some of the contract employments are so short that one wonders how the employees will plan a life with such short term employments.

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“Furthermore, the contractors are changed after almost every term and the workers face the issue of whether they will be dropped with the ending contract or be absorbed into the new one. This is why we implore the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) to look into this and ensure that the contract worker is well protected.”

Highlighting the roles and contribution of the union, Olabode pointed out that  PENGASSAN was registered on 15th August 1978 to promote, protect and improve through collective action, the social and economic interest of the senior and middle management employees in the oil and gas sector.

“It is a notable pressure group that continues to play a huge role in nation building, undertaking the daunting task of the mirror in the society. As a foremost union in the oil and gas sector, we also shoulder a huge responsibility in national development,” he said.

He said, the association and its allies like NUPENG, NLC and TUC were at the forefront of the fight for the democracy that the country relishes today.

Olabode added: “The fearless, patriotic and irrepressible leadership of the Association, gave their all to regain and secure our democratic liberty despite the intimidation, victimisation and harassment of the military junta. Our erstwhile President and General Secretary, Comrade Gani Adebola Owodunni, Comrade Milton Gilchrist Dabibi, Comrade Francis Aidelomon as well as Comrade Frank Addo suffered varying degrees of persecution including imprisonment and torture.

“We have also continued to collaborate with the Trade Union Congress and the Nigerian Labour Congress in the struggle against policies of the Government that negatively affect the Nigerian worker in both the public and private sector of the economy.”

He said further: “In the oil and gas sector, we engage the government on policies that will develop the industry. When it became glaringly clear that the country no longer derives maximum benefit from oil and gas operations, the Association collaborated with other agencies for the passage of the Nigerian Content Law to enable Nigerians to take ownership of the operations in the industry through the transfer of technical know-how and use of local raw materials.

“We were also resilient in the struggle to restore normalcy to the downstream sector in 2016. We supported the new Joint Venture cash call framework and the NNPC reforms. Currently, we are at the forefront in engaging the Executive and Legislature on the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill.”