FG, PENGASSAN, Dangote reach truce over refinery dispute

Federal government brokered a truce on Tuesday between the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and the management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery. This was contained in a communiqué issued and signed by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Maigari-Dingyadi, at the end of a two-day conciliation meeting on Wednesday. The meeting, held on Monday and Tuesday, brought together the National Security Adviser, Ministers of Finance, Budget, and Economic Planning, as well as the Minister of State for Petroleum (Gas), alongside representatives from the DSS, NIA, NNPCL, NMDPRA, NUPRC, and labour leaders. The conciliatory meeting was convened after PENGASSAN directed its members to stop gas supply and withdraw services from the refinery. The union had accused the company of terminating the employment of more than 800 of its members, which triggered the industrial action. Dangote Refinery, however, explained that the disengagement of workers was due to an ongoing restructuring exercise in the company.
According to the communiqué, the meeting resolved that unionisation is a fundamental right of workers under Nigerian law and must be respected by the company. It was further agreed that the management of Dangote Group should immediately begin the redeployment of the affected workers into other subsidiaries within the group without any loss of pay. The meeting also resolved that no worker would be victimised for participating in the dispute between PENGASSAN and the company. PENGASSAN, in turn, agreed to commence the process of calling off its strike, while both parties pledged to implement the resolutions in good faith.
The strike was called after the Dangote refinery – Africa’s largest with a crude processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day – dismissed more than 800 unionised staff. The walkout had threatened fuel supply and trade across West Africa. The labour ministry said in a statement following a conciliation meeting between the PENGASSAN union and Dangote Petroleum that the dismissed workers would be given jobs in other parts of the Dangote Group with no loss of pay. The workers at the privately owned Dangote refinery were dismissed on Thursday for unionising, PENGASSAN said on Friday. Dangote refinery officials said at the time that the dismissals were part of a staff reorganisation and accused those affected of acts of sabotage.