Amby Uneze in Owerri and Daji Sani in Yola
Sigma Pensions Limited and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigerian (PENGASSAN) recently collaborated to sensitise workers on the need to plan for their retirement while they are still in active service.
The sensitisation exercise took place in Owerri, Imo State and Yola, the Adamawa State capital respectively, during the 5th delegates’ conference of the union in both states.
The conference had as its theme: ‘Good Governance and Industrial Relations in Economic Recession’.
At Owerri, the President of PENGASSAN, Francis Olabode Johnson, reiterated the union’s avowed stance to always resist any policy that endangers the employment of workers, such as the exploitative tendency to degrade jobs, as obtained in the casualisation and contract employment.
He therefore called on various managements to strictly adhere to the implementation of the guidelines on contract and casual staffing in the oil and gas industry and ensure that all employees are treated equally.
In his remarks, the Zonal Chairman of PENGASSAN, Mr. Azubuike M. Azubuike, noted that in spite of the economic recession, the union had not deviated from her core objective of protecting her members’ jobs and improving their welfare by evolving mutually sustainable development strategies that carefully integrate labour/industrial relations in a manner that foster productivity, growth, industrial peace and harmony at the workplace through consultation, collaboration, effective communication and speedy resolution of industrial issues.
At the Adamawa conference, the union commended Sigma Pensions for the partnership as well as their commitment towards workers’ welfare.
The representative of Sigma Pensions and Head of Risk Management, Nuhu Modibbo, said his organisation was ready to protect pension contribution and gratuity of pensioners in the civil service and other organisation
Modibbo lauded the commitment of his organisation to protect and pay pensioners their pensions and gratuity at the time when due immediately after their retirement from office.
However, he commended PENGASSAN for giving them the opportunity to sponsor the conference across the country
