Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has called on the Federal Government to address the dispute between the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Dangote Group over alleged anti-union policies.
NUPENG had announced plans to begin an indefinite strike from September 9, protesting claims that Dangote Refinery was compelling newly recruited compressed natural gas (CNG) tanker drivers to sign contracts preventing them from joining established unions. While the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) and the Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association (DTCDA) have opted out of the strike, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) pledged a three-day suspension of lifting and dispensing petroleum products in solidarity.
In a statement on Sunday, Falana argued that the alleged policy contravenes Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, the Trade Union Act, and international labour conventions ratified by Nigeria, including International Labour Organization Conventions 87 and 98. He also described it as a violation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other global human rights treaties.
Falana urged the Registrar of Trade Unions to immediately call Dangote Petroleum Refinery to order and pressed the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to check what he described as monopolistic practices by the company.
He further warned that attempts to erode workers’ rights to unionise would not succeed, recalling that Nigerian workers had secured the right to organise even under colonial rule.
