Lessons From NUPENG Strike

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG last Monday embarked on a shortlived nationwide strike aimed at pressing home their demand over what it termed poor working conditions for its members.  The union’s other grievances include harassment of its members by security agents, particularly men of the Nigeria Civil Defence Corps, bad roads and insecurity facing members. Initially planned to be an indefinite exercise, the strike action was called off less than 24 hours after it began.
The Tide thinks that the strike action should not have been called abinitio.  The fact that it ended few hours after commencement is an indication that NUPENG and the relevant arm of government did not do their home work well.  That the action was hasty, ill thought out and with disregard to consequences on the already battered economy and Nigerians were all too glaring.  We believe that strike actions, due to their obvious far-reaching implications should be the last weapon to be deployed by  trade unions to make their case.
We say so because the just suspended NUPENG strike was  one too many and would have sounded the death knell on the economy which has been in recession. Already, within few hours of the aborted action, long queues had surfaced at the petrol stations, with motorists and traders bracing themselves for yet another vicious circle of fuel scarcity and its ripple effects. Indeed, the average Nigerian would have been, as usual, the ultimate sufferer and the economy, the loser.
Certainly, there would have been hike in transport fares with its attendant effect on prices of goods and services.  When linked to  the recent increase in suicide cases in the country, one can only imagine how many Nigerians that could have been driven to premature death by the added hardship.
No doubt, NUPENG, just like any other trade union reserves the right to go on strike over industrial dispute and we agree that most of their demands are germaine,  the union is however,  expected to use the option as a last resort when others have failed.  As a responsible body NUPENG should explore and exhaust all rules of engagement before the strike option.
We believe that constructive dialogue and negotiations are better than undue confrontation and taking advantage of critical position to inflict avoidable pain on the masses. It is always better to jaw-jaw’ than to ‘war-war’.
Regrettably though, successive governments in the country have demonstrated the penchant to effectively react to industrial disputes only when the strike option is exercised. Moreso, it is worrisome that some of NUPENG’s grievances have existed for years.  Even some of the agreements reached had not been implemented by government.
Therefore, we urge relevant agencies of government to be proactive and always work to nip industrial disputes in the bud.  The usual insensitivity to the plight and demands of unions and the 11th hour move to avert its consequences must not continue. Government must not wait till strike action is declared before meeting aggrieved unions on the table.
While we believe that strike action, whether by NUPENG or any other trade union, does no good to any party in a dispute,  government must try its best to discourage its employment by unions by having a listening ear and giving teeth to agreements reached.  Except this is done, we will continue to put our citizenry and the economy through agonizing  moments and experience that will keep the country stagnated.