NUPENG STRIKE!!! Is this Another Fuel Scarcity?

The country is set to face another disruption in the supply of petroleum products two weeks after a nationwide strike called by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress.

On Tuesday, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers commenced an indefinite nationwide strike.

The industrial action, according to the union, is because of a dispute between its branch in Shell Nigeria and the management of the oil firm. A source in the industry also said the strike might also be connected to a dispute between the union and MRS Oil and Gas Plc.

Our correspondent gathered that the strike was to protest the alleged intimidation of NUPENG members by the management of Shell following the suspension of the chairman of one of its chapters in the company.

The Chairman, NUPENG, Lagos Zone, Mr. Tokunbo Korodo, told our correspondent that the strike commenced on Tuesday and that the union had ceased loading products from all depots across the federation.

Asked whether the strike was limited to the Lagos Zone, Korodo said, “All our members nationwide, including the petroleum tanker drivers, are participating.

“From this morning (Tuesday), all branches of NUPENG have complied and they have given their support to their colleagues in Shell headquarters and have shut down since morning.

“No single drop of product was loaded at the depots across the federation. It is going to continue, and tomorrow (Wednesday), we are picketing Shell.”

Also, the President of the union, Mr. Achese Igwe, told our correspondent on the telephone on Tuesday night that the strike was nationwide.

On how long the strike would last, Korodo said, “We want to draw the attention of the government to the problem and for it to tell us whether Shell is bigger than the workers in this country or is above the law.

“In Shell alone, we have two branches; one is the in-house union, which comprises the real employees of Shell, and we call them Shell Parish of NUPENG. Then, the other branch we have there is the contract workers’ parish of Shell.”

He said the ‘parish’ that NUPENG was having a problem with was the in-house union and that because of the crisis, the national leadership of the union had expelled the chairman, dissolved the executive committee of the branch and put in place a caretaker committee to take charge.

Korodo alleged that the management of Shell did not, however, recognise the committee but was instead relating with the expelled chairman.

He said, “The chairman sued us to court and the court restrained us from what we had in mind to do and granted his plea, saying that the status quo should be maintained.

“This is the major reason for the strike, because you know in the labour movement, injury to one person is injury to all. So other branches are giving solidarity support to their colleagues that are being enslaved and victimised by the management of Shell.”

However, a Shell spokesman, Mr. Tony Okonedo, said the company did not have any dispute with the union
PUNCHNG