PENGASSAN-Dangote rift widens over salary suspension

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has ceased the monthly salaries of the engineers who were dismissed in September during its conflict with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria.

To address this situation, PENGASSAN has stated that it is in discussions with the Dangote Group to amicably resolve the issue rather than resorting to further industrial action.

Investigations have shown that the salaries were stopped due to the refusal of many engineers to accept their reassignment to states such as Zamfara, Borno, Benue, and Sokoto, among others.

Some workers, who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the issue, previously mentioned that individuals were assigned to a coal mine in Benue, concrete road construction sites in Borno and Ebonyi states, as well as rice processing plants in Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, and Zamfara.

While a small number of workers reportedly accepted the redeployment, many others declined, relying on assurances from PENGASSAN that the situation would be resolved through dialogue.

It has been reported that the Dangote Group issued a warning in October by reducing the wages of the affected workers before completely withholding their November salaries.

A senior official from the Dangote Group confirmed to our correspondent that the company would no longer pay those who rejected the redeployment offers.

Although the affected workers have characterized the withholding of their salaries as "victimization," the official, who preferred to remain unnamed due to a lack of authorization to comment on the issue, questioned why the company should continue to pay individuals who have declined the alternative placements provided.

“Those whose services were terminated were given an opportunity to work in our other projects, such as rice mills, concrete road construction, and coal mines.

All those who accepted have started working.

“If a newspaper terminates the services of an employee, and if it even goes out of its way to provide alternative employment, but the employee is not interested in availing the alternative employment, will it keep paying his/her salary?” the official said.

It is important to remember that PENGASSAN had closed down oil and gas facilities in September due to claims that 800 refinery workers were dismissed for their willingness to join the union. However, the Dangote refinery asserted that it only terminated a small number of employees who were undermining the facility, characterizing the action as a reorganization.

This shutdown resulted in nationwide losses in oil and gas production and led to a decrease in power generation until the Federal Government stepped in and ordered the redeployment of the affected workers.

In October, the dismissed engineers were invited to collect their letters at the Ikeja office of the Dangote Group. One of the letters reviewed by our correspondent was titled 'Offer of Trainee Engagement' and featured the letterhead of Dangote Projects Limited.

The letter states in part: "In light of your performance during the assessment and the subsequent interviews conducted with you, we are pleased to offer you a position as Engineer Trainee (Mechanical Engineering) for the coal project we are undertaking at Okpokwu, Benue State. This engagement will be contingent upon the following conditions: You are to report to your work location within 14 days of receiving this letter.

"You will participate in both classroom and practical training in the construction, commissioning, and operation of our Coal Project at Okpokwu, Benue State. Your training will last for a duration of two years and will be evaluated periodically. You will be expected to submit reports regarding your learning and progress. The aim of the training is to equip you with skills and prepare you for a position of responsibility within the organization."

Numerous engineers voiced their apprehensions regarding the posting, particularly to areas considered security risks. "The problem with the re-employment is that, firstly, there is no address provided to report to in that letter. There is no office to report to in the states we were assigned to. Secondly, those locations are security hot zones.

Thirdly, the letter indicates that failure to report within 14 days will result in the termination of your employment; however, no office location was provided, and upon checking Google Maps, we found that such offices do not exist. Therefore, by accepting the letters, we would effectively be terminating our own employment, as there are no offices in those states to which we could report. PENGASSAN has advised us against accepting the letters, stating that we should allow them to continue their discussions.

During a briefing last week, PENGASSAN President Festus Osifo mentioned that the union is still in discussions with the Dangote refinery to resolve the outstanding issues.

Osifo stated, "Since our last national industrial action, we have been involved in numerous discussions with them, but the issues remain unresolved. There are still many outstanding matters. The NEC has decided to continue this process by addressing these issues through dialogue and by engaging all our social partners and stakeholders to find resolutions. We hope and pray that these matters will be settled at the negotiation table.

"These issues should be resolved through dialogue to prevent a regression to previous conflicts. However, as PENGASSAN, we are committed to doing what is necessary. Our preference is to resolve the matter through negotiations."

A senior management officer told our correspondent on Sunday that PENGASSAN had the right to make its requests, but the company also had the liberty to make decisions that suited its business.

“They (PENGASSAN) have their privilege to ask. We can’t deny the opportunity to anyone to ask anything they wish. But we, too, have the privilege to state what we want,” the official said.

Some of the engineers lamented the turn of events. They disclosed that there was “an agreement that they would send us to oil and gas companies owned by Dangote.”

According to them, it was initially agreed that their salaries would be paid until the issue was resolved.

“But we noticed a reduction in our October salaries. We were not paid for November when others have been paid. That’s clear victimisation. It was agreed that Dangote would keep paying us until the matter is resolved, but it seems they have breached the agreement already,” they said.

As the stalemate lingers, the affected engineers said they are now caught between losing their livelihoods and accepting deployments they consider unsafe and irregular, while PENGASSAN continues to push for a negotiated settlement to prevent another nationwide shutdown.

With both sides holding firmly to their positions, the resolution of the dispute now hangs on the outcome of ongoing engagements between the union and the Dangote Group.