Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) said it will embark on a nationwide strike beginning Wednesday when an ultimatum it issued the Federal Government expires.
NUPENG's threat is necessitated by a lingering dispute on loan repayment affecting members of the Jetty and Petroleum Tank Farm Owners of Nigeria (JEPTFON).
General Secretary of NUPENG, Comrade Elijah Okougbo, said in a communiqué issued by the union that all the affiliates of NUPENG would embark on a full scale strike by this week, "if the Federal Government failed to intervene in the lingering dispute affecting members of the Jetty and Petroleum Tank Farm Owners of Nigeria (JEPTFON)."
The grievances of the union stem from a loan repayment deal to banking institutions owed by members JEPTFON, a sub-union of NUPENG.
Part of the union's demand is anchored on failure of government to implement a section of the agreement which bothered on a 15-year time frame to pay back all the loans acquired from various banks to meet the demand of fuel importation by members of JEPTFON.
NUPENG had also prevailed on government to allow the debtors pay a three percent interest rate for the loans acquired.
Comrade Okougbo in the communiqué explained that the banks where JEPTFON members acquired loans to aid the importation of petroleum products are pressurizing them to pay back the loans.
He said the situation had become so grave that the union was compelled to write the Federal Government pleading with it to intervene by prevailing on the banks to allow a 15 years repayment plan and at three per cent interest rate for its members.
He said no further notification will be given to government at the expiration of the ultimatum, except the Federal Government intervenes, noting that only the State Security Services (SSS) had shown interest in their plight by prevailing on them to stay action because of the present national security constraints in the country.
0 comments:
Post a Comment