Oil workers threaten firms over collective bargaining agreement

WORKERS in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria have threatened to disrupt operations in the sector if oil and gas companies refused to put in place Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in their various companies.
CBA is a document that contains agreements between management and the employees’ union stating scope of the business, relationship between both parties and the extant labour laws regulating the industry. It is duly signed by two parties, that is management and workers union.
It could be classified into procedural (the processes) and substantive (actual) welfare and jobs of the employees. CBA is provided for in the extant labour laws, the International Labour Organisation’s conventions and the constitution.
The workers urged Federal Government, especially the Federal Ministries of Petroleum, Labour and Productivity, as well as Interior, to call oil and gas companies that have not had any CBA in place, to do so as a way of guaranteeing industrial stability in the sector.
They vowed to make two oil and gas servicing companies, names withheld, scapegoats for not having CBA and thereby depriving their Nigerian workers their rights.
Speaking on the issue, the President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Mr. Babatunde Ogun, said that the two in-house unions in the sector, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and PENGASSAN, would not allow any company without CBA to operate in Nigeria.
He noted that the extant labour laws in Nigeria, the conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the constitution, make provisions for CBA to govern and regulate the relationship between employers and their workers.
Ogun said, “PENGASSAN and NUPENG will no longer tolerate a situation whereby companies in the oil and gas industry will be disobeying the laws of the land and turn Nigerians to slaves in their own country.
“CBA is part of the law and it is also recognised by the international conventions of the ILO and the Nigeria Constitution. If any company is not ready to put CBA in place, it means such company is disobeying the law and not worthy to operate in the country.
“We will go all out to disrupt operations of any company that refuse to put in place CBA, as this is an attempt to deprive their workers the rights to the freedom of association and lawful assembly, and right to belong and participate in trade union activities.
“Some companies lack respect for Nigeria laws, Nigerians and the government, while a particular firm is operating without a union or negotiated CBA for staff, turning Nigerian workers to slaves in our own country.
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