PENGASSAN protests non-payment of members' salaries

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April 12, 2017 5:39 PM

According to Comrade Eze Obara, deputy chairman of the Union's Lagos Zone, GE owes Arco, an oil firm for services it rendered in the second half of last year.

As early as 6am, Tuesday, April 6, 2017, members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) gathered outside General Electric’s offices at Mansard Place, Victoria Island.

They had placards, banners and raised voices.

The gathering was organised to protest the firm’s perceived breach of a contract it allegedly entered into with Arco, an oil services firm, in November.

According to Comrade Eze Obara, Deputy Chairman of the Lagos Zone of PENGASSAN, General Electric contracted Arco for its services in November with the express agreement that they would be paid after the services were fully rendered.

But months after Arco fulfilled its end of the agreement, remuneration had still not been paid.

Comrade Obara told Pulse that while GE was not a member of PENGASSAN and thus not bound by the union’s decisions, he and his peers had decided to protest because, despite many previous attempts to get General Electric to fulfill the contract’s terms, they had failed to even acknowledge its existence.

“We are here because this is not longer about contracts. It is now a matter of life and death. One of our colleagues has his wife in the hospital and he cannot afford hospital bills because he has not been paid”. He told Pulse at the scene of the protest.

“We have tried to get them to pay Arco for the services they rendered but they didn’t. How can you withhold people’s money for how many months?”

When asked what plans they have to make their grievances known in the long run, he said “We’ve been here since 5.30 am and they’ve refused to see us till now".

"If they don’t, we will come here tomorrow, and I can assure you that this protest will not be as peaceful as this”

General Electric, often abbreviated into GE, is an American multinational conglomerate that has been operating in Nigeria for over 40 years. This Nigerian branch has interests in businesses spanning a number of key sectors - aviation, manufacturing, power generation, healthcare, transportation and oil and gas.

Pulse spoke with GE’s Head of Marketing, Patricia Obozuwa who told us that this diversity implies that the firm operates in multiple areas with different companies across Nigeria.

Obozuwa told us that General Electric had little obligation to the protesting union members, whatever agreement it might have entered would have been with Arco. As such, she expected that such persons would first inquire from Arco as to the specifics of the matter and the reasons why it had not paid its employees.

Regarding the protesters’ plans to continue the protest on more physical terms, she added “Rest assured, we are working with authorities in response to this and any attempt to physically damage property will be managed”.

PENGASSAN plans to continue the protests in earnest tomorrow, regardless of opposition, until their demands are met in full.

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