Oil company workers under the aegis of the Petroleum and National Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) recently issued a sevenday ultimatum  to the Rivers State Government and the management of VAM Onne Nigeria Limited, to either resolve the industrial relations crisis in the  company or have all oil and gas operations shut down indefinitely. The workers alleged that the company in collaboration with some politicians sponsored thugs numbering over 15 armed with dangerous weapons to harass, manhandle, assault them and disrupted the peaceful protest organised by PENGASSAN, Port  Harcourt Zone against the management of VAM Onne Nigeria Limited.

In a petition addressed to the Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi dated February 8, 2012 and signed by the Assistant General Secretary of PENGASSAN, Port Harcourt Zone, Mr Sunday Onyenachi, the workers said,” as a result our National Secretariat has directed that after seven days, with effect from February 9, 2012, there will be a complete shutdown of all oil and gas operations in Rivers State.  If thereafter, the matter is not resolved within the period, the entire 10 states in Port Harcourt Zone including Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Enugu, Imo and Rivers State will follow suit and this will escalate the crisis.”

They alleged that the  country Manager of VAM Onne, Mr Engene Fogli victimised 27 PENGASSAN members who have been locked out for over  three months without salaries. The workers accused the  VAM manager of  engaging in anti-union activities ranging from intimidation, harassment, lockout, victimisation and enslavement of Nigerian workers, flagrant abuse of our extant labour laws and release of Nigerians from employment without clearance from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). And more importantly, refusal to honour agreement which was reached at a meeting at the instance of Prince of Onne community, Prince (Dr) Jime Osaronu and Mr Sunday Dudu between the association and the management on November 15, 2011 at Novetel Hotel , Port Harcourt.

They also said Mr Fogli had started recruiting new staff to replace workers that were locked out because they exercised their fundamental rights to belong to trade union.

Similarly the independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Ilorin branch penultimate Saturday threatened that the association would withdraw its services with effect from Tuesday last week because the lives of its members were being threatened by vandals of petroleum pipelines.

Chairman of the association Alhaji Holaji Agbolade bemoaned a situation where those arrested for pipeline vandalism by the Police, State Security Serviced (SSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were not properly persecuted.

He said : “Pipeline vandalism is an economic sabotage, we are worried about a situation where suspects are arrested and released within a few days without prosecution! According to the association, “we will likely withdraw our services and fuel will not be sold at the Ilorin Depot to any filling station. He gave an instance where about two years ago, the police arrested five persons who were each sentenced to five years imprisonment by the Federal High Court but were released two weeks ago without completing their jail terms by another court and called for the re- arrest of the  convicted pipeline vandals.

All these came at the time when fuel tanker drivers embarked on their strike that triggered some days of petrol scarcity.

It is known that the prime function of trade unions the world over is to protect and improve the wages and working conditions of their members through collective action, whether by bargaining with the employers by promoting legislation. In fact, historically, one of the main reasons for the setting up of trade unions was that the workers might acquire a combined strength which would enable then to bargain more effectively with the employers and to replace the individual contract by a collective agreement.

In Nigeria, many employers and employees refuse to believe that this is what happens and they think that the collective agreements are fundamentally different in form and content from what obtains outside.

Another midely held belief is that the workers in Nigeria are not free to withhold their services if they are dissatisfied with their conditions of work.

Freedom of association does not merely imply the right of workers to form or join an organization and the right of that organization to have a legal existence. It also implies freedom for the organization to function. If freedom of association is to have its full value, the workers must be able to use their organization for collective action and must enjoy the right to strike if they regard their working conditions as unsatisfactory.

Another thing to be remembered is that the structure, functions and rights of the Nigerian trade unions cannot be properly appreciated unless the economic, political and social structure of the country is taken into account. Personal or group circumstance is less important in the case of the nation. The fact that the rights of oil workers are trampled on or tampered with as alleged by PENGASSAN and the IPMAN do not call for strikes that are not negotiated or dialogued before commencement. There are various methods for dealing with industrial disputes which were not adopted by the tanker drivers and oil workers in the current crisis.

The withdrawal of services by tanker drivers for about six days and the threats by the PPPRA, PENGASSA and IPMAN has resulted in enormous pressure on other sectors of the economy.

Oil workers should acknowledge the fact that the oil and gas industry is an important aspect of the nations economy and any action such as strike critically paralyses the economy and the movement of people.

Petroleum products distribution in Nigeria and Rivers State in particular in the past one week has continued to suffer from the negative effects of the marketers and oil workers. People are forced to pay exorbitantly for petroleum products  which also affects transport fares. The reputation of some oil workers and their managements has been battered by their failure to come to terms.

Regardless of what the issues are, citizens of the country and government are not happy with the situation in which they find themselves while the fuel scarcity lasts.

Cheap and effective business and services are no longer guaranteed in the country. This is why it is incumbent on the state and federal governments to seize the initiative and end this improfitable standoff once and for all.

The Tide learnt that the  Federal Government might have begun the process of calling a stakeholders meeting where some of the issues unearthed during the hearing on the subsidy claims by the National Assembly would be addressed with a view to checking the fuel scarcity.

The issues raised by IPMAN and the PENGASSAN concerning intimidation and other ill-treatments meted out to their members should be addressed just as perpetrators of pipeline vandalism should be treated according to the law as it concerns economic sabotage. Oil workers on their part should not in any way allow themselves to be used by anyone or group whatsoever to disrupt the distribution process of petroleum products.

Security agencies should take serious the issue of pipeline vandals because their activities are counter productive, especially now that there is the need for improvement in the allocation of petroleum products.

The Rivers State government would not wish to put itself in a position where it will be vulnerable to copycat strikes and it must be realised that the consequences of this quibbling have resulted in economic downturn and penury on the citizens.

When two elephants fight, the resultant effect is always on the grasses. While the oil workers or tanker drivers argue over the fine points of their grievances, the citizens are suffering.

As the body charged with overall well-being of the citizens, government should endeavour to bring the strike and threats under control. The welfare of the people is simply too important to be put on hold through strikes. The companies managements should see reasons with their workers and give them what they want if their demands are genuine.

There should be evidence of  faith in the demands of the workers and it must be obvious that they are making a point. There is the need for negotiations between the government, company managements and the workers to find solution to the situation.

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) alleged the fear of petroleum products scarcity as it claimed that Nigeria still has over 35 days sufficiency and more importers of petrol are in the business, so people should  face what they are licensed to do rather than causing artificial scarcity of fuel.

There are many issues involved in the  petroleum sector reform which need to be addressed. Insecurity in the nation’s high seas is one of the factors that bring about scarcity of petroleum products. Some oil companies have applied for as much as 160,000 metric tones but had not been able to get that quantity while some take their vessels to neighbouring countries such as the republic of Benin and Togo because of inadequate storage facilities at the country’s ports, so they have to split the products, which is a security risk because of the way pirates operate and the difficulty in the jetties.

As a way forward, there is need for re-classification of the oil companies  in a bid to effectively reposition the oil  industry. The dearth of facilities at our ports has also forced importers to use ports in neighbouring countries and there should be market forces to determine quality of fuel imported and the prices they are sold as an inspector  is made to oversee the quality and quantity of import.

Shedie Okpara