Striking Mobil Workers Shun Minister’s Peace Meeting

The striking workers of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU), over the weekend, shuned the peace meeting organised by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Chris Ngige.
The workers also rejected a directive by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachukwu, to suspend the strike.
The Tide gathered that the minister called them for a meeting on the issue but that the striking workers failed to show up, not even giving any explanation for their action.
According to the source, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) MPNU branch acknowledged receipt of Ibe Kachikwu’s letter urging them to suspend strike and go back to work while negotiation continues, but the union refused saying they lack the powers to call off the strike.
PENGASSAN MPNU branch Secretary, Anitie David Udoh, in his reply said, “as a branch under the supervision of the national leadership and a subset of the PENGASSAN NEC, we hereby restate our absolute commitment to the NEC resolution.
“Consequently PENGASSAN MPNU branch rejects in totality the ministerial directive in the reference letter and assure you of our total commitment to the NEC resolution”.
The striking workers had threatened to shut down Mobil operations nationwide starting from Friday night to compel the company’s management to reverse its decision and reabsorb sacked staff.
They equally threatened to mobilise members in other oil companies to join the strike, should the management of Mobil fail to comply.