Former Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) president and senator, Adams Oshiomhole, has faulted the decision of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to shut down oil facilities across the country over its dispute with the Dangote Refinery.
Speaking on Arise Television on Friday, Oshiomhole said while unions have the right to defend workers, they should not use methods that cause wider economic hardship.
“I think that in seeking to protect a particular set of workers, you do not then risk the jobs of several other workers. When you are pursuing a dispute, the tools you deploy must be such that they do not undermine other people’s jobs,” he said.
Oshiomhole said he was surprised to see filling stations overwhelmed with queues because PENGASSAN had ordered the shutdown of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) facilities and other oil firms.
“All because of a problem in one refinery, PENGASSAN decided that NNPC be shut down and several other companies shut down. That was not well thought out,” he said.
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Drawing from his time as NLC president, Oshiomhole explained that strikes should be targeted at the employer involved.
“We had a big battle with Union Bank over their policy on married couples working together. Even when we had the capacity to shut down all the banks, we didn’t. We recognised the offence of Union Bank could not be said to apply to others,” he recalled.
He also warned against rushing into strikes without considering their effect on ordinary Nigerians.
“The tools you deploy must not hurt innocent people, like the tomato sellers who cannot get fuel to move their goods because of a quarrel between one refinery and one union,” he said.
While stressing that freedom of association is a right, Oshiomhole urged unions to act responsibly.
“An employer has to exist, mature and be strong enough to guarantee good-paying jobs. If you cripple a business before it even finds its feet, you are also destroying the jobs you claim to protect,” he said.
The Dangote Refinery, commissioned in May 2023, is Africa’s largest single-train refinery with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day. Last month, PENGASSAN ordered members to shut down operations over alleged anti-labour practices at the refinery, a move that triggered fuel scarcity in several states.