OIL WORKERS THREATEN STRIKE ACTION OVER PLANNED SALE OF REFINERY

 
The Federal Government’s planned sale of the four public refineries was yesterday protested by oil workers in Eleme, Rivers State, as they threatened to declare a nationwide strike, should government go ahead with the planned sale.
The workers under the aegis of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, said government should rather carry out a comprehensive turn around maintenance on the refineries for optimal performance, vowing to continue to oppose the planned sale because it was anti-Nigeria and anti-people.
NUPENG had earlier at its National Executive Council, NEC, meeting in Okrika vowed to resist the planned sale of the refineries, insisting that the oil workers would not hesitate to shut down the sector if reason failed to prevail on the government.
Speaking to newsmen on the matter, President of the union, Achese Igwe, expressed shock that Nigeria, as the 6th largest oil producing country, would contemplate selling off its refineries, arguing that they would declare a national strike against the move.
He therefore urged the Federal Government to take steps towards making the refineries function optimally, adding that the government should address the issue of casualisation in some of the multinational oil firms.