The ongoing conflict between the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Dangote Petroleum Refinery has escalated, as the company suspends the salaries of engineers dismissed during a previous confrontation. The situation has prompted PENGASSAN to seek an amicable resolution rather than escalating to further industrial action.
Recent investigations reveal that Dangote halted the monthly salaries of several engineers who were terminated in September after they refused redeployment to locations in states such as Zamfara, Borno, Benue, and Sokoto. Some engineers had been instructed to work at coal mines, concrete road construction sites, and rice plants across these regions.
While a few employees accepted the redeployment offers, many rejected them based on PENGASSAN’s assurances that negotiations would lead to a resolution. The Dangote Group reportedly issued a warning by reducing wages in October before completely withholding salaries for November.
A senior official from Dangote confirmed that employees who declined the redeployment would no longer receive salaries, questioning the logic of continuing payments to those unwilling to accept alternative employment opportunities. The official likened the situation to any other employment termination scenario, where one cannot expect continued payment without fulfilling job requirements.
PENGASSAN previously shut down oil and gas facilities in September, protesting the dismissal of approximately 800 workers who sought union membership. The Dangote refinery claimed the layoffs were part of a necessary reorganization to address sabotage within the company.
Following this, affected engineers were invited to pick up their new employment letters from Dangote’s Ikeja office. These letters offered roles as trainee engineers at different construction projects, with a stipulation that they report to work within 14 days at specified locations. However, many workers voiced concerns about the lack of clear addresses and the security risks associated with their assigned locations.
PENGASSAN President Festus Osifo addressed the media, indicating that the union continues to engage with Dangote to resolve outstanding issues. He emphasized the importance of dialogue in avoiding a recurrence of industrial action, stating, “These issues should be resolved in mere jaw-jaw so that we will not go back to Egypt.”
While PENGASSAN asserts its right to negotiate for better conditions for its members, Dangote maintains its right to manage its workforce according to business interests. The engineers find themselves at a crossroads, facing potential job loss or unsafe redeployments, while PENGASSAN presses on for a satisfactory resolution in the ongoing negotiations.
