By Victor Ahiuma-Young
ORGANISED labour in the nation’s petroleum industry, has warned that increasing unfair labour policies and practices portend the greatest threat to industrial peace and  survival of the nation’s oil industry.

Under the umbrella of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, labour listed some of the policies and practices to include outsourcing, casualisation, expatriate quota abuse, merger and acquisition.

Port Harcourt zone of PENGASSAN in a communique at the end of  a 3-day workshop with the theme “Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Reforms:  Key Challenges and Prospects from all stakeholders’ perspectives” in Calabar, Cross River State, insisted that interest of labour and the provisions of the various Collective Bargaining Agreements, CBAs, must be adhered to in all cases of mergers, changes of name, acquisition and similar activities before such transitions become effective in the interest of industrial peace and harmony.

According to the communique: “The workshop condemns in its entirety the fragrant abuse of extant labour  laws through the unrestrained use of  casualization by some employers of labour. The workshop therefore calls on the Federal Government of Nigeria and relevant agencies to check and eradicate this ugly trend.

The workshop believes that outsourcing should be given only to contractors that possess the requisite legal, administrative, technical and financial capabilities/certification (recruiters’ licence) to render such services and accordingly enjoined the Association to galvanise  insistence on strict compliance by organizations through  the Ministry of Labour and other relevant government agencies.

The workshop enjoins the Association to ensure the harmonization of remuneration for all employees under the direct supervision of the principals and resolved that henceforth principals shall be held  vicariously liable by the Association for Agents’ (Labour Contractors) deviations in labour relations matters. In addition, the Association should engage employers of labour for the  systematic and continuous conversion of these categories of employees into  regular employment  as have been done in some organisations in the industry.”