The Port Harcourt zone of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has threatened to embark on an indefinite strike if oil servicing companies in Rivers State refuse to recall their sacked workers.
Chairman of the zone, Comrade Godwin Eruba, told newsmen in Port Harcourt yesterday that the union would embark on strike after 14 days if the state government fails to prevail on the oil servicing firms to recall the workers who, they said, were sacked unjustly.
Eruba said the affected firms were contractors to major oil and gas companies operating in the state, including Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) and Addax Petroleum.
He condemned the unlawful sacking of over 60 of its members by Esco Oil and Gas Servicing Company in Bonny, Rivers State without recourse to due process.
The NUPENG chairman said: “At the expiration of the ultimatum, NUPENG will embark on a two-day warning strike at the first instance, and when these issues are not resolved, we will continue with the strike until justice is done.
“We cannot continue to watch companies flout regulations of the federal government and also subject Nigerian workers to forced labour by violating all regulations and make them look like fugitives in their own land.”
“We are saying that enough is enough, we are already out of patience. Therefore, wise counsel should prevail because we will not be held responsible.”