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15 May, 2006
On 3 May, Nigerian Labour & Productivity Minister Dr Muhammed Hassan Lawal prevailed upon ICEM affiliate PENGASSAN and ExxonMobil’s Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc. to come to terms over a company breach on a procedural agreement with the white-collar union. Specifically, ExxonMobil agreed to pay 50% of unpaid housing allowances owed to some 300 workers by the end of May.
Several other matters were discussed, and the three parties agreed in a joint statement that industrial action would be suspended, with lingering issues taken up in further dialogue between the union and Mobil Oil management.
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However, PENGASSAN’s National Executive Council has now issued an ultimatum to the company over its reluctance to curb the use of contract labour. The union’s Executive said that if this all-important matter is not immediately resolved in compliance with the laws and policies currently in place on expatriate quotas and local content, industrial action is imminent. PENGASSAN cites several companies within the country’s oil and gas industry for violations, but specifically targets Mobil Oil for industrial actions unless the grievances are rectified.
PENGASSAN noted “with grave concern the disturbing trend in the recruitment, releases and compensation of well skilled and qualified Nigerians that are being employed as contract workers with no hope of security of employment.”
On 2 May, local community members protested at a Mobil Oil export terminal at Qua Iboe over the company’s failure to pay compensation and adequately clean up an oil spill. Some 70 workers — many of them PENGASSAN members — had been detained by the protestors, but were later released. Production at the 420,000 barrel-per-day terminal was interrupted, but was later restored through efforts of members of PENGASSAN and NUPENG, Nigeria’s blue-collar oil workers’ union.