Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who serves Edo North and is a former head of the Labour Congress, remarked that the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria PENGASSAN could have approached its conflict with Dangote Refinery differently.
Oshiomhole asserted that the union could have engaged with the refinery without disrupting the entire country’s oil industry. He expressed this viewpoint during an interview on Arise TV on Friday.
He acknowledged that while the union was justified in safeguarding a specific group of workers, its actions should not have jeopardized the employment of others or posed a risk to the Nigerian economy.
The senator from the 10th National Assembly mentioned that PENGASSAN would not have chosen to halt operations at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, and other essential oil sectors due to its disagreement with Dangote Refinery.
“I believe that in aiming to defend a particular group of workers, you should not endanger the livelihoods of many others. When navigating a dispute, the methods employed must ensure the protection of others’ jobs.”“In waging a battle, it is crucial to understand that the means you employ should not harm the innocent, such as the tomato vendors who are unable to obtain fuel for transporting their goods due to a conflict between a single refinery and a union,” Oshiomhole stated.
Recall that PENGASSAN had ceased activities for two days due to a dispute with the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery following the dismissal of 800 workers. The union had instructed its members to halt the crude gas supply to Dangote Refinery until the refinery reinstated the workers who were members of the union.
However, after the Federal government intervened, the strike was lifted, and an agreement was reached between PENGASSAN and Dangote Refinery.