Hundreds of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) members Wednesday withdrew their services at the Qua Iboe Oil Terminal to protest the non implementation of their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
More than 200 placard carrying oil workers besieged the entrance to the Crude oil export terminal operated by Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) in Ibeno near Eket in Akwa Ibom to press for improved conditions of service.
The Branch Chairman of NUPENG at the Qua Iboe oil fields Mr. Aniedi Douglas said that they embarked upon the protest following the non implementation of 2006 CBA one year after the terminal date of the contract.
The workers who sang solidarity songs were later addressed by their union leaders and later by representatives of Mobil Producing Nigeria.
Officials of MPN held a brief meeting with NUPENG executives and resolved to set up a forum to look into the grievances of the workers.
Management of MPN advised NUPENG to set up a contractors’ forum to harmonize the position of the workers and make their demands to the oil firm.
The union leaders advised workers to remain calm and await the outcome of the meeting of MPN contractors’ forum scheduled to take place later on Wednesday.
The protest however did not affect operations in crude production and processing as senior staff in the oil terminal who did not take part in the protest were on their duty posts.
Public Affairs sources in MPN at the Qua Iboe Terminal declined comments on the situation insisting that they were still studying the situation.
MPN, an affiliate of US energy firm ExxonMobil operates the 860,000 barrels per day crude oil export terminal off Akwa Ibom and is notorious for breaching contractual obligations to its Nigerian workforce and contract employees.
Both employee and contract workers branch of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) last year shut down crude production for about two weeks in a strike over implementation of wage agreements.
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