NLC asks members to mobilise for strike over Dangote-PENGASSAN dispute

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has asked its affiliate unions to begin mobilisation for a possible nationwide strike against the Dangote refinery.

In a memo signed on Monday, Joe Ajaero, NLC president, accused the refinery of violating Nigeria’s labour laws, the constitution and International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions by dismissing workers for joining the association.

The directive comes amid a dispute between the refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over the alleged dismissal of more than 800 employees.

The NLC president claimed that Dangote Group facilities are “plantations of exploitation” where workers’ dignity is crushed to maximise profits.

He also described the face-off as a “symptom of a deeper sickness; a capitalist pathology of union-busting, worker enslavement, and gross impunity that defines the Group’s industrial relations strategy”.

The labour leader said affiliate members have been placed on full alert and must immediately intensify unionisation campaigns in all Dangote facilities within their jurisdictions.

“The impunity of the Dangote Group must be met with resistance,” he added.

“Each affiliate should establish an action mobilisation committee and liaise with the NLC secretariat within 72 hours.”

The NLC president added that unity of purpose has become “non-negotiable”.

The federal government had asked for a conciliatory meeting to prevent an escalation of the crisis.

The Dangote refinery had also confirmed sacking some workers, saying that “only a small number was affected”, describing the move as a reorganisation exercise.

On September 27, Dangote refinery accused PENGASSAN of attempting to sabotage the country’s energy supply chain, following a directive issued by the union to cut off crude oil and gas supplies to the refinery.

PENGASSAN also instructed its members to embark on a nationwide strike over the dismissal of workers.

The national industrial court in Abuja had issued an interim order stopping PENGASSAN from proceeding with its industrial action against the refinery.