DSS Blames Total Nig Plc for NUPENG and PENGASSAN strike
The Department of State Security Services has stated that the ongoing nationwide strike recently embarked upon by members of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) is the fault of multinational oil company, TOTAL Nig. Plc.
The spokesperson of DSS, Marilyn Ogar, disclosed this, saying the workers are on strike because the company has failed to hold up its agreement with the union.
She revealed that the PENGASSAN officials called the attention of the DSS to the matter in November, prompting the security agency to summon the managing director of the company, Elizabeth Proust.
“The issue is the ongoing strike by NUPENG and PENGASSAN which is biting hard on all Nigerians. We want to state that in November, 2014, PENGASSAN had written the Service to make a formal complaint about the transfer of Elo Victor Ogbonda to Lagos from Port Harcourt by TOTAL after she was elected as a zonal executive of the union.
“Consequently, this Service summoned the managing director of TOTAL, Elizabeth Proust, on November 5, 2014, to resolve the dispute. It was agreed that Ogbonda would be re-instated, posted back to Port Harcourt and granted leave of absence for the period she would serve as an executive of PENGASSAN.”
“Consequently, this Service contacted TOTAL and was informed that the company will not go back on its sack order. All entreaties to the company failed, thus culminating in the current strike and the attendant fuel scarcity.”