NUPENG called on its members to down tools and shun loading of petroleum products from Monday, September 8,2025.
In a statement on Friday, jointly signed by Williams Akporeha and Afolabi Olawale, President and General Secretary, NUPENG accused the management of Dangote Refinery of alleged anti-labour practices, inimical to the survival and means of livelihoods of its members under its Petroleum and Tanker Drivers Branch.
The Union specifically expressed strong reservations about the position of Chairman of Dangote Refinery, Aliko Dangote that drivers recruited for operations of its 10,000 Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, Trucks imported into the country would not be allowed to join any trade union.
The union described the position taken by the management of Dangote Refinery as an affront on the right of association, guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution and a breach of relevant international labour laws to which Nigeria is a signatory.
Independent tanker owners/ transporters will be smiling.
ReplyDeletePeople addicted to blaming government and suddenly loving Dangote will be having headache.
It's like the Starbucks situation. With every hint of a driver or group trying to to unionize, they close the branch/ sack the driver and ground the vehicle till another driver from a large pool of job seekers is secured. The company then chooses to work only with independent contractors like the Uber model or franchise their service like McDonald's where you own your own truck or have a leasing/ rent to own agreement so you as the driver bears the costs and risks.
I advise the union to use their membership funds to start a trucking company/ schools/ cooperative bankshospitals/ publishing company/ etc and set the standard and probe Marxist policies as correct. Let them know what running a business actually entails.
This move will only further weaken independent tanker owners and other transporters who don't have the economies of scale to meet the unions' demands. The unions are cementing Dangote's monopoly
The laborer is entitled to his/her wages and the owner/ bearer of risks their profits but both sides must sit and understand each other.
It's not a new thing. There is always fuel scarcity once we enter ember month. To me, it's all man made.
ReplyDeleteDangote, you better load independently using your "own" trucks and sell to Nigerians. If not, what's the essence of building and FG can't grant you things needed to run it independently.
ReplyDeleteThese guys should rethink o. Abi is it a plan thing, so that prices of garri, rice, grains, etc will shoot up again?
If you don't blame the present government for your lot in the life you've lived for decades, you won't feel fine.
DeleteEmployee -employer issues are internal. Government did not do this one.
When you choose to build something and empower yourself, let those you have employed demand what to be paid and when/how to work without commensurate production and profit.
Since Uber drivers decided to gang up on the algorithm, who settled? Why did Dangote import 17,000 Indians instead of giving you a chance to eat? Privatize the refineries tomorrow and see what happens to these agitations. Privatize power all around like NITEL and see what the Glos and MTNs of the world add to GDP and enrich other businesses.
Labour will soon see the benefits and befriend government as an arbiter.
These trucks were bought to address the wickedness of a union that likes to strike at times like this. Are their drivers ' hands free of blood? Does the union provide insurance or pay damages for the carnage they have been raining since their founding? Yet ,they want to keep playing God as a middleman.
This union has existed long enough to put their own vehicles on the road and compete with Dangote since their members will beat his employees with experience. You don't dictate to an employer who he should keep on or lay off.