The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) on Monday berated Adams Oshiomhole, the senator representing Edo North Senatorial District, over remarks criticising a recent strike by oil workers, describing him as “the Judas Iscariot of Nigerian trade unionism.”
NUPENG asserted in a statement signed by its president, Williams Akporeha, and general secretary, Afolabi Olawale, that the lawmaker’s action betrayed the very principles he once espoused as a labour leader.
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Mr Oshiomhole, who broke into limelight as a vociferous and sometimes combative national union leader during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, served as the president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) between 1999 and 2007.
“His attempts to rationalise the victimisation of workers for exercising their fundamental rights of association and peaceful action are not only nauseating but represent a flagrant misrepresentation of Nigerian Labour Law and International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions,” the association said.
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The labour group went further to say that the legislator’s stance on the matter amounts to” a gross distortion of established labour laws,” accusing him of taking sides with capitalists.
Mr Oshiomhole had on 3 October told local tv channel ARISE News that the nationwide strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over the dismissal of 800 indigenous staff at the Dangote Refinery was hasty and unfair to other workers.
He argued that while the right of the industrial union is “a God-given right,” the decision to turn the conflict into a full-blown strike stands the risk of hurting others not involved in the conflict.
“What I’m not sure is right is the ease with which PENGASSAN resorted to escalating the matter to a secondary level, what you call the secondary solidarity, to a point of shutting down the oil sector,” Mr Oshiomhole said.
“I think that it is to protect a particular set of workers, you do not then risk the job of several other workers.”
The senator also declared that the union should have considered the far-reaching consequences of its actions on ordinary Nigerians.
ALSO READ: Dangote Refinery: Court restrains NUPENG from embarking on strike
“Indeed, how would a person who once advised alleged corrupt politicians to join the APC to have their sins forgiven have the effrontery to sermonise on morality?” NUPENG stated in its reaction.
It accused the former NLC chief of clinging to power during his days as a unionist, saying he falsely claimed to have resigned as the general secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria when he took over as NLC president.
Citing Section 31 of the Trade Union Act, which it said supports strikes that are declared on sympathetic grounds, NUPENG argued that PENGASSAN’s decision to join forces with the dismissed staff is a protected legal action.
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