The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has demanded that the management of Dangote Petrochemical Refinery issue a public apology to the union following the dismissal of over 800 Nigerian workers.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, TUC Secretary General Nuhu Toro said the refinery had infringed on the constitutional rights of the affected employees.
His remarks came in response to the ongoing dispute between the refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over unionisation.
“The Dangote and PENGASSAN rift concerns the TUC because PENGASSAN is an affiliate of the TUC, and there is no way they can beat your child, and the father stays aloof.
“Even the last meeting that was held on the 8th of September at the Ministry of Labour office, both PENGASSAN and the TUC were represented.
“We demand the reversal of the arbitrary dismissal of over 800 workers by Dangote. If that is done, the next thing that we demand is a public apology from the Dangote Refinery Management, with an assurance that such won’t be used against the union in the future,” he said.
Toro added that the refinery had consistently avoided addressing the main issue in its dispute with PENGASSAN.
“In some of the commentaries flying around, Dangote has refused to address the substantial matter here, which is the violation of workers’ right to belong to any union of their choice.
“What Dangote simply did was to give us a bad name. The first thing he did was to violate the agreement we both signed, arising from the previous intervention, that no worker was going to be victimised.
“Unionisation is a right, and workers in Dangote have the right to belong to a union of their choice. In these circumstances, the workers have indicated that they want to belong to PENGASSAN, and they signed our forms.
“For Dangote to react, he has to hide under the guise of sabotage, which is debatable in my opinion, because by the time you say sabotage, you must be able to substantiate and provide evidence of who who are sabotaging,” said Toro.
He further accused the refinery of double standards, alleging unfair treatment of Nigerian workers compared to expatriates, particularly Indian staff, calling it “oppression” of the sacked employees.
“Even more disturbing is the monopoly and double standard of Dangote, who enjoys massive state support, protection, and a lot of goodwill from this government. The same organisation turns around to deny Nigerians of their fundamental rights, while extending preferential treatment to expatriates, the Indians who we all know work within the same organisation.
“This is nothing but a show of economic oppression in modern-day slavery, and this is not acceptable to the TUC and even PENGASSAN,” the TUC secretary general stated.
He emphasised that workers should be free to join unions of their choice.
“Dangote should allow the workers to belong to the union of their choice. He should respect the rights of the over 800 workers and reinstate them; the unions are also ready to shift grounds in the interest of Nigerians.
“Don’t forget that we are also Nigerians, and nobody in Nigeria is more patriotic than the workers who toil to create the wealth that is used to develop this nation.
“So when I listen to commentaries about the free trade zones and people not being patriotic, it is laughable. Onne is a free trade zone, and workers in ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies in Onne are members of unions,” Toro added.
He recalled how labour unions had once supported Aliko Dangote when he faced challenges.
“It is instructive that the organised unions in Nigeria have at some point stood by Dangote when we felt he was being trampled upon, when we felt he was not getting the commensurate interventions he needed to kickstart the refinery. So, it will be very unfair for anybody to think we want to put a spanner in the wheel of the refinery,” he said.
Toro dismissed claims that the workers were unpatriotic or sabotaging the economy, stressing that they would not accept exploitative practices.
“Unions are patriotic Nigerians, and we don’t have any other country, and we also appreciate that the Dangote Refinery has decided to invest in Nigeria, thereby for millions of Nigerians.
“But what we will not take is slave labour. Slave labour, in terms that the law is very clear on the terms of employment, and union in the workplace is part of their fundamental rights,” he said.