The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria has called on the management of the Dangote Petrochemical Refinery to publicly apologise and reinstate more than 800 workers dismissed over a unionisation dispute.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, TUC Secretary-General Nuhu Toro said the refinery violated the constitutional rights of the sacked employees.
“The Dangote and PENGASSAN rift concerns the TUC because PENGASSAN is an affiliate of the TUC, and there is no way they can beat your child, and the father stays aloof.
“Even the last meeting that was held on the 8th of September at the Ministry of Labour office, both PENGASSAN and the TUC were represented.
“We demand the reversal of the arbitrary dismissal of over 800 workers by Dangote. If that is done, the next thing that we demand is a public apology from the Dangote Refinery Management, with an assurance that such won’t be used against the union in the future,” he said.
His comments follow a nationwide strike declared by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria that paralysed operations at key oil and gas regulatory institutions on Monday.
The industrial action followed the weekend directive conveyed in a resolution signed by PENGASSAN General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, wherein the union accused the Dangote refinery of violating Nigerian labour laws and International Labour Organisation conventions by sacking workers for joining the union.
In response, Dangote debunked, dismissing workers in mass, and accused the union of sabotage.
But Toro said the core issue is workers’ right to join the union of their choice, which he criticised the management for failing to address.
“In some of the commentaries flying around, Dangote has refused to address the substantial matter here, which is the violation of workers’ right to belong to any union of their choice.
“What Dangote simply did was to give us a bad name. The first thing he did was to violate the agreement we both signed, arising from the previous intervention, that no worker was going to be victimised.
“Unionisation is a right, and workers in Dangote have the right to belong to a union of their choice. In these circumstances, the workers have indicated that they want to belong to PENGASSAN, and they signed our forms.