Ugo Aliogo
Employees of Addax Petroleum Development Nigeria have embarked on an industrial action over anti-labour practices.
Addax, owned by China’s Sinopec Group, has four Oil Mining Licences operating the assets in Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) before its transformation to a limited liability company.
The company has about 324 Nigerian employees which include the 141 permanent staff and 183 contract employees.
According to the workers who downed tools, who are members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Addax management refused to engage them on labour-related issues after the announcement of the revocation of its licences by the federal government.
The workers threatened to shut all the company’s operations including oil wells, valves crude lifting and export terminals operating by Addax if the company refuse to engage them, saying that all attempts to get the Management to the negotiation table failed as it ignored them.
Sources among the workers revealed that sequel to the notification by the APN Management informing its employees on the withdrawal of operating licences by the NNPC in a town hall meeting, both parties met and reach a financial term of exit settlement for all the workers.
It was gathered that there was agreement that the financial exit settlement would be executed at the expiration of Addax Petroleum Nigeria’s PSC agreement for OML 123 and 124 by July 1, 2022.
“Addax Management has so far rebuffed our call for the execution of the financial exit settlement and other employees ‘related issues.”
Senior Assistant General Secretary, Lagos Zone, PENGASSAN, Babatunde Oke confirmed that the strike was embarked upon, “by our members due to the management’s refusal to engage our association on the financial settlement earlier agreed on.”
One of the workers who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that the workers had waited patiently for the management, “trying to understand its plights but it is like they are insensitive to our own problems. Many letters have been written asking for a meeting but the Management refused to meet them.”
