Nigeria’s white-collar oil workers union, PENGASSAN (Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria), has threatened to embark on an indefinite strike that can cripple the country’s oil production and petroleum distribution from Wednesday.
The union said in a statement here at the weekend that the strike was being called to protest the alleged plan by Mobil Oil Nigeria plc to sack its members, including all the branch executive officers and the national treasurer of the union.
The strike notice followed the expiration of a 21-day ultimatum issued to the oil company to stop ”unfriendly” labour practices.
Mobil’s External Relations Officer, Akin Fatunke, denies the allegation, saying everyone, including the union, was carried along in the company’s efforts to rationalise its staff in order to deploy a new technology, Software Application Programme (SAP).
Panapress reports that the threat of a strike by PENGASSAN alone is capable of throwing the public into a panic mood and triggering long fuel queues at filling stations across the country.
