PENGASSAN to picket Baker Huges, Oct 6 over anti-labour activities

By allcitynews.ng

As part of the efforts to compel the management of Baker Huges, organised labour in oil and gas industry under the aegis of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff of Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has moblised members for picketing of Baker Huges from Tuesday 6 October 2020.

The aim of the picketing, according to PENGASSAN is to call all our members back to pave way for meaningful negotiations.
And also to make the firm to respect the positions and directives of DPR and ministry of Labour and Employment on all outstanding issues.

Similarly the picketing is to stop casualization of labour and job off-shoring.

Calling on Baker Hughes to obey Nigerian law governing employer, employee to avoid wrath of labour, the union noted that Baker Huges locked out of 64 employees which included union officials in the branch and at the national level despite the intervention of Ministry of Labour and Department of Petroleum Resources.

Both Department of Petroleum Resources and Federal Ministry of Labour who are in full alignment with PENGASSAN had said that until the management of Baker Hughes come into agreement with the association discussion on severance before any form of severance can be done.

The company has failed to pay employees what is due them after the merger of Baker Hughes and General electric and have also resisted employees from the legacy GE to freely associate with the in house union after the merger of the two companies was consumated worldwide.

The company had previously taken to victimization of union executives by writing unfounded allegations against them and also allegedly tying them to kidnapping allegation and criminal offenses.

Among the anti-workers activity by Baker Huges is being carried out under the supervision of the Managing Director, Mr. Francis Oganya, an American. His major assignment is to stifle the union and destroy collective bargaining in the company.

Moreover, the company is fully enmeshed into job off-shoring and endemic casualization of labour among other illegal activities. The company has started bring in Ghanaians and other foreign national to take up jobs of Nigerians with customers such as Sterling Oil and SPDC.

The HR and procurement processes of the company have been fully taken outside the shores of the country which negates Data protection act of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.