Fuel Scarcity looms as petroleum workers threaten strike

Another round of fuel scarcity looms as the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), on Sunday in Abuja gave the Federal Government a 72-hour deadline to intervene in its dispute with some banks or face a nationwide strike.

The General Secretary of NUPENG, Elijah Okougbo, said in a communiqué issued by the union that the impending strike had to do with disagreement over loan obtained by Jetty and Petroleum Tank Farm Owners Association of Nigeria from some banks, to satisfy the demand for fuel importation.

The union in its strike notice threatened to shut down vital oil services if the government refused to intervene.

NUPENG is demanding the implementation of a section of an agreement reached with the Federal Government to allow JEPTFON, a subsidiary association, to pay back the loan in 15 years with three percent interest.

Mr Okougbo said the Federal Government had ignored implementations of both demands contained in the agreement reached with the union and that the union was compelled to issue the ultimatum because the banks were mounting serious pressure on JEPTFON to repay the loan in spite of the agreement reached with the Federal Government.

The union’s Secretary said NUPENG would not give any further notice to the Federal Government before proceeding on the nationwide industrial action.

He said member associations of the union had been compelled to embark on a drastic reduction of their workforce in the drive to repay the outstanding loan stressing that MRS, one of its members sacked 100 workers because of the loan issue.

He said since the 72 -hour ultimatum was issued to the Federal Government, the union had not received a response from the government apart from the State Security Service which advised them against it because of the prevailing security situation in the country.

He said, letters written to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Minister of Labour and Productivity, the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, the National Security Adviser, the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency and other critical offices on January 10, 2012, did not yield any result.

He said, “If nothing is done to consider the satisfactory implementation of the committee reports, we will have no choice but to resume our suspended nationwide strike without further notice in order to save the livelihood of our members as injury to one, is injury to all.”

COURTESY: CHANNELS TV