NUPENG Throws Weight Behind NASS Over Bill To Eliminate Casualisation Of Workers

The National Leadership of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) over the weekend, commended efforts made by the 9th Assembly of the House of Representatives in the ongoing process for the passage of a bill seeking to amend the Labour Act to criminalise casualisation of workers in Nigeria.

The union noted that with the legislative intervention that has passed the second reading, NUPENG as a custodian of blue-collar workers in the oil and gas sector is particularly excited with profound sense of appreciation in our current set of Lawmakers in seeing that the bill essentially seeks to prohibit engagement of casual workers beyond six months.

NUPENG in a statement signed by its President, Comrade (Prince) Williams Eniredonana Akporeha, and Comrade Afolabi Olawale, General Secretary of NUPENG, called on the distinguished senators to emulate the patriotic zeal of the House by speedily concurring to the remarkable bill.

The statement added that ,:“We also discovered that section 8 of the bill accommodates as being proposed a clause to the Act which provides that every worker shall enjoy full employment benefits as a permanent staff after six months of engagement and that any employer who disengages a worker after a period of six months from the date of first engagement without regularising the worker’s employment shall at the date of disengagement pay to the worker full salary, allowances and entitlements due to a permanent staff for two months provided the worker has not been found liable of any criminal act involving fraud resulting to financial loss to the company amongst other things.

“To this extent, NUPENG stated that it can profoundly say this is a new dawn in the annals of industrial relations practice in Nigeria, a season whereby workers’ confidence could be restored and a period where workers will no longer suffer indecent workplace treatment, job insecurity and other forms of precarious work conditions that often expose them to health risks, exploitation, depression”, it said.

“This vicious phenomenon called worker’s casualisation has regrettably accentuate the increasing levels of crimes and socio dislocations Nigeria is currently experiencing and has particularly caused our Union and members lots of pains, setbacks, anguish and agonies for decades.

“Unfortunately, some exploitative and manipulative multinational companies and their local collaborators in the oil and gas industry have over the years being exploiting gaps in our Labour laws to flippantly treat Nigerians Oil & Gas workers with disdain and indecent working conditions”.

The Union also commends the sponsor of the Bill, Hon. Olawale Raji, a lawmaker representing Epe Federal Constituency from Lagos state and the entire Leadership of the National Assembly for putting the interests of Nigerian workers above every other interest.

“This is timely, and it’s a good step in the right direction and should attract floodgates of commendations and support from all and sundry.

“While we are also in similar vein calling on our distinguished senators to emulate this patriotic zeal of the House by speedily concurring to this remarkable bill, we request that Employers who dissuade workers from getting unionised should also be sanctioned and penalised