ExxonMobil drags PENGASSAN to Arbitration Court

By Timothy Oyomare

Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (ExxonMobil) has dragged the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to Industrial Arbitration Panel for resolution.

The move is coming after negotiations by both the management of the American company and the union (PENGASSAN) at resolving the three weeks old industrial dispute broke down despite the intervention of the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige and the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.  Both ministers have scheduled another meeting for Monday, May 22.

The arbitration court has exclusive jurisdiction in civil causes and matters relating to or connected with any labour, employment, trade unions, industrial relations and matters arising from workplace, the conditions of service, including health, safety, welfare of labour, employee, worker and matter incidental thereto or connected therewith.

Sources close to management of ExxonMobil said the resort to arbitration panel was aimed at breaking the ranks of the union by putting a statutory burden on its hierarchy to call off the strike as both sides were expected to maintain status quo.

Despite the intervention of the arbitration panel, PENGASSAN is yet to call off the strike by its members thereby putting the country’s production capacity at jeopardy.  The union has threatened to shut down ExxonMobil’s production of 660,000 bpd at Qua Iboe Terminal, Best Operations Platform, Erha and Usan FPSOs and Bonny River Terminal.

There are also fears whether PENGASSAN may further direct other oil companies to resume indefinite strike in solidarity with ExxonMobil after the initial three days warning strike which ended last Friday failed to make substantial impact.

The Chairman of Lagos Zone of PENGASSAN, Mr. Abel Agarin had earlier threatened to escalate the strike to include all other workers of IOCs if the management of ExxonMobil failed to meet their demands.