19 June, 2011
The US Solidarity Centre has released a new report detailing the Nigerian oil industry’s shift from permanent, direct employment towards outsourced and temporary labour – known in Nigeria as “casualisation.” The report argues that the casualisation of labour is industry-wide, and is a clear attempt to reduce the cost of doing business while simultaneously breaking workers’ strength.
The Solidarity Centre engaged with leaders and members of the ICEM-affiliated Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to examine industry trends and their impact on workers’ lives. A key trend, highlighted by almost every programme participant, was the degeneration of permanent employment and the increasing casualisation of labour.
The study, in English, can be found here.
According to NUPENG and PENGASSAN, for every full-time oil worker there are four casual workers. The unions argue in the report that the shift away from permanent employment is an attempt to replace unionized employees with lower paid and less protected workers, as well as to transfer employment responsibilities to subcontractors.
Casual workers perform the same tasks as permanent workers, but without any job security and under “never-ending probation.” They are frequently laid off, particular just before they would become entitled to permanent contracts. Most casual workers are not union members. They receive lower wages – the report estimates between 15-50% of union workers’ wages – and fewer benefits.
The report gives examples of some of NUPENG and PENGASSAN’s organising and advocacy efforts which, it highlights, are often thwarted as employers shift bargaining responsibilities from one subcontractor to another, or even resort to violence. Ensuring respect for workers’ rights is particularly challenging in a context in which the Nigerian state plays the dual role of enforcer of labour legislation and majority shareholding partner or owner of most Niger Delta oil companies in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC).
Recognising NUPENG and PENGASSAN’s long history of supporting transparency and democracy, the report concludes by emphasising the important role the unions have to play in the struggle against the downward pressure on decent work and other human rights in the Niger Delta.