The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has placed its affiliate unions and members on red alert as tensions deepen between the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
PENGASSAN has accused the refinery of sacking more than 800 Nigerian workers, a claim the company denies, insisting only a few staff were disengaged due to sabotage and safety concerns.
The dispute escalated on Monday when union members barricaded the headquarters of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in Abuja, following a directive from PENGASSAN’s national executive committee for nationwide industrial action.
In a statement seen by BusinessDay, Joe Ajaero, NLC president, accused the refinery of violating Nigeria’s labour laws, the constitution, and International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions by dismissing workers for joining the union.
He described the face-off as a “symptom of a deeper sickness; a capitalist pathology of union-busting, worker enslavement, and gross impunity that defines the Group’s industrial relations strategy.”
The statement read: “The Dangote Group has operated for too long as a state within a state, flouting Section 40 of our Constitution, violating ILO Conventions 87 and 98, and treating our national labour laws with contempt. Their facilities are not workplaces but plantations of exploitation, where the dignity of the worker is systematically crushed to maximise profit for the few.
“The time for pleading and endless, fruitless dialogue is over. The moment for decisive, collective action is now.
“Consequently, we have resolved as follows: 1. Request for total mobilization of all Unions and workers. All aforementioned affiliate unions are hereby placed on IMMEDIATE AND FULL ALERT.
“You are requested to commence, with immediate effect, preparation for a vigorous and comprehensive unionisation of all workers within every Dangote Group facility falling under your jurisdiction. This is a strategic priority.
“To start full preparation for an engagement with Dangote across the nation. You are requested to immediately begin mobilising your members and resources for a full-scale, decisive engagement against the Dangote Group’s anti-labour stance. This action aims to compel the conglomerate to:
“Unconditionally respect the right of every worker to freely join a union of their choice. • Cease all forms of intimidation, victimisation, and union-busting activities. • Submit to the authority of our nation’s labour laws and institutions. Each union is to set up an Action Mobilisation Committee and liaise directly with the NLC National Secretariat within the next 72 hours to coordinate strategy, logistics, and communication. Unity of purpose and action is non-negotiable.
“The impunity of the Dangote Group must be met with the resistance of organised labour. No amount of media verbiage and paid hirelings will stop us from fighting for our liberty in the face of apparent Regulatory capture where the state seems to have abdicated its responsibility to hold this behemoth accountable for its breaches of our laws.
“The blood and sweat of Nigerian workers built this conglomerate; we will not let it become a monument to their oppression.”
