Although Dangote Group may have reconsidered the sacking of its workers at Dangote Refinery, it will move them to its subsidiaries.
While some may see this as soft-landing or a milder punishment, the company will, however, the affected workers will not lose any pay.
This was disclosed on Wednesday by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi.
According to him, Dangote Group will redeploy the staff earlier disengaged from its refinery operations, following the resolution of its dispute with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria.
The minster said in a statement: “After examining the procedure used in the disengagement of workers, the meeting agreed that the management of Dangote Group shall immediately begin the process of redeploying the disengaged staff to other companies within the Dangote Group, with no loss of pay.
“No worker will be victimised arising from their role in the impasse between Dangote and PENGASSAN.”
He further explained that both sides had reached a compromise, noting that “PENGASSAN agreed to start the process of calling off the strike. Both parties agreed to this understanding in good faith.”
The minister also stressed that “unionisation is a right of workers in accordance with the laws of Nigeria, and this right should be respected.”
The conciliation meetings followed a breakdown in earlier talks between the refinery management and PENGASSAN, which had ended in a deadlock on Monday. https://punchng.com/pengassan-dangote-reconciliation-meeting-ends-in-deadlock/
The rift began after PENGASSAN alleged that the refinery had engaged in mass transfers and sackings of union members, while also replacing some Nigerians with foreign nationals, claims the company consistently denied.
The situation escalated when PENGASSAN halted gas and crude oil supplies to the refinery, prompting the Federal Government to intervene over concerns about “the impact of the dispute on the nation’s economy and energy security.”
