Labour Rejects Joint Venture In PIB

The organised labour in the oil
and gas industry has rejected the proposed Incorporated Joint  Venture (IJV) as encapsulated under section 246 (3) of the 2008 Petroleum Industry Bill Pib.
Speaking to The Tide, the State Chairman, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria TUC, Comrade Chika Onuegbu said stakeholders in the oil and gas industry including the two unions namely National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) vehemently rejected such corporation of the existing joint ventures in the PIB.
Onuegbu said the main reason for the rejection was the fact that IJV would be injurious to the operations, growth and development of the nation’s oil and gas industry.
He said giving the antecedent of government on business, it would have far-reaching implication on the organised labour.
Onuegbo who is also the chairman, NUPENG/PENGASSAN Joint Committee on PIB said government antecedent in business leaves much to be desired.
The labour leader said the suspicion of the organised labour and other stakeholders in the Oil and Gas Industry was made worse by all the possible scenarios of politics of government’s interference with business.
He said raising new contentious ideas like IJV will further compound the challenges faced by government in the operations of Oil and Gas Industry, stressing that such idea will call into question government’s sincerity with the reforms in the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry.
On the issues of refinery and the downstream operations, the union leader said the challenges facing the country with regards to availability of petroleum products were at unprecedented heights and continue to constitute a source of hardship to the already over-stretched citizenry.
He said the unions proposed that the PIB makes provisions in regards to the existing refineries, the country adopts a modified model tailored towards the NLNG model with the NOC holding a substantial minority, core investors/local participation having a working majority, staff and staff unions holding minority shares.
He said refineries should be stand-alone entities independent of the proposed NOC where the NOCs will hold the government shares, adding that the management of each refining company should be autonomous and fully responsible for its success and failure.
Onuegbu said the unions believed  that effective incentives should be granted to allow for the development of private refineries alongside the existing refineries, adding that IOCs be compelled to refine an agreed percentage of crude oil in the country while private ownership of jetties should be encouraged.
On labour issues, the union boss said PIB should ensure the mandatory recognition of the Right to Freedom of Association and effective collective bargaining by all companies operating or doing business in the nation’s Oil and Gas industry irrespective of where they are located.
He said oil companies must comply with all international labour conventions that have been ratified by Nigeria in dealing with labour related issues in their operations.

Philip Okparaji