The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria has urged all South-West governors to accelerate the implementation of the minimum wage in their various states.
Comrade Eyam Abeng, the Zonal Chairman of PENGASSAN, Lagos Zone, said this was the fallout of its Zonal Executive Council’s first quarter meeting in Lagos.
“We call on our respective state governors (Lagos, Osun, Ekiti, Ogun, Kwara, Oyo and Ondo) to rapidly implement the minimum wages, ensure effective distribution of palliative materials and increased FAAC allocation be channelled towards verifiable, visible and sustainable socio-economic projects such as affordable healthcare delivery, infrastructural development, quality education and enhanced security of life and properties.
“Despite the enormous challenges in the country, especially with the subsidy removal and floating of the naira, which has seriously impacted negatively on our members take home pay and continue to erode their purchasing power, we are forging ahead to making our Zone an enviable one,” Abeng said.
Abeng added that the value of naira cannot improve from it free fall except the government takes some steps to increase productivity, exportation and reduce importation.
He explained that one practical way towards achieving that aim is by providing necessary support to Small and Medium Enterprises through transparent provision of grants, tax holidays and improved power availability.
“We advise the government to input all efforts to end wanton killings and kidnapping by armed bandits and insurgents across the country. We are also calling on the government to invest recovered loot in developmental programmes, such as power, education, health, and transportation infrastructures instead of sharing it among the “supposed” poor, which can make such loot be re-looted,” he stated.
“We resolved key issues like integrating Sterling Services into Sterling Oil and addressing redundancy and IR issues at Prime 127 and Addax Petroleum. Since assuming leadership, we have implemented programsme to align with global industrial relations practices. We have successfully resolved disputes and closed legacy issues while finalising Collective Bargaining Agreements and Wage Reopeners for many branches,” the Lagos Zonal chairman added.
Also, the association called on the Federal Government to honour its agreements with labour, particularly regarding the minimum wage increase and the completion of the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.
