Fuel scarcity looms as oil workers threaten strike action from tomorrow

It appears another episode of petroleum scarcity
is about to hit Nigerians as members of the
Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff
Association [PENGASSAN] and their counterparts
in the National Union of Petroleum and Natural
Gas Workers [NUPENG], are set to begin a
nationwide strike starting from tomorrow Monday
December 15th.

According to Premium Times, the oil workers are
heading for a strike action due to unresolved labor
issues with the federal government, underfunding
of the Petroleum Training Institute in Delta state
as well as the yet to be passed Petroleum
Industry Bill PIB.

"We (the oil workers) have sufficient
reasons, based on information available to us,
to believe that the law makers are not
prepared to pass the law, even as the state
of the country’s petroleum industry has
continued to deteriorate as a result of the
absence of a regulatory and legal framework
for the industry,” an official of the
petroleum workers body said.

The oil workers are said to also be aggrieved over
the decision of the management of Total Nigeria
to sack the PENGASSAN zonal Secretary in Port
Harcourt as well as the lack of promotion for
workers of the Petroleum Trust Development Fund
(PTDF).