UPDATE OF THE PENGASSAN STRIKE ACTION DAY TWO (FRIDAY – 08/07/16)

There was total compliance by PENGASSAN members to the directive to embark on an indefinite strike on Friday. The workers started the strike on Thursday 07/07/16. Many PENGASSAN members stayed away from their offices.

In Abuja, few members that reported for duty early this morning were turned back from the NNPC Towers, except for NUPENG members and management staff who went about their normal duties.
There was total compliance in government agencies, as staff stayed away from their offices. In Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NNRA), Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) and the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEFMB) headquarters, virtually all offices were locked.
In Port Harcourt, the strike was also successful, as many members were not in their offices. The monitoring team that went round the city reported that members in NNPC office, the Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC), Shell and Total fully complied with the strike order.
 At the NNPC depot in Port Harcourt, the management of the depot initially tried to use Industrial Trainees (IT) and contract staff to load/off load fuel trucks but before 12 noon, the leadership of the depot were called to order and the loading was stopped.
At the Warri zone, there was total compliance, except for members in Chevron, who early in the morning were in their offices but later joined by vacating their offices around 10a.m. “There was no lifting of petroleum products in Warri or anywhere in the zone as our members fully complied with the strike directive,” a source among the monitoring team said.
Members of the Association in Lagos also stayed away from their offices and there was no lifting of petroleum products at the depots and loading bays.
Even those at the jetties and other critical sections where crude are lifted in Port Harcourt and Lagos also abandoned their duty posts.
In Kaduna, there was total compliance with the strike directive, as members stayed out of their offices. Most offices in the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) were empty and there was no lifting of petroleum products from the depots. We commend the support of our NUPENG members here who supported PENGASSAN in ensuring that there was total compliance.
 Speaking on the strike action, the PENGASSAN National Public Relations Officer, Comrade Emmanuel Ojugbana who also visited some offices in Warri confirmed full compliance by members and said that the strike is not only about the members of the Association but about the survival of the Oil & Gas industry in Nigeria.
He said, “the inability of the government to fund the Joint Venture (JV) operations and settle Cash Call arrears has denied the country of new investments, while the existing operations and activities are being stalled. This has resulted to lack of new job opportunities, while our members, who have been in employments, are losing their jobs because their employers could not meet their salary obligations to them.
“The Union demands the immediate action of Government to address this funding/cash call arrears to avoid the imminent collapse of the industry. The Government must provide feasible guidelines to clear all outstanding payments going forward and evolve a pragmatic system of funding the Joint Venture (JV) operations.”


Comrade Emmanuel Ojugbana
National Public Relations Officer
PENGASSAN