The
Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has suspended its
nationwide strike with immediate effect, the News Agency of Nigeria is
reporting.
The oil workers union suspended the strike at the end of its
National Executive Council Meeting, which was called to review offers made by
government during days of negotiations.
The union had earlier met with the Minister of Labour and
Productivity, Chris Ngige.
Details of the agreements reached by the parties are sketchy at
this time.
The unions had on July 7 declared a strike over “unresolved
issues” affecting the smooth operation of the oil and gas industry.
The acting general secretary of PENGASSAN, Lumumba Okugbawa, had
told newsmen on Tuesday that some of the association’s demands bordered on
issues that could strengthen the oil and gas industry and the country’s
economy.
They include backlog of cash call arrears dating back to 2014,
which he said had greatly hampered the ability of the joint venture partners
with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to discharge their
obligations both to the industry and their workers.
Other issues include the poor state of the country’s refineries
and the massive waste of resources on turn around maintenance (TAM); continued
importation of petroleum products; on-going industry reforms and NNPC
restructuring as well as the politicisation of the passage of the Petroleum
Industry Bill (PIB).
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