U.S. oil giant, ExxonMobil Corporation, will pay up to
N350 million each to some of the sacked Nigerian
employees as severance payments, driven by years of
service and additional redundancy gratuities.
It was also learnt that of about six per cent of the
workforce affected by the right sizing carried out by the
firm, the average payment per person hovers around
N140 million, including redundancy pay of about 36
months basic salary.
This is coming as the Minister of State for Petroleum
Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has invited the protesting oil
workers under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural
Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) for a meeting
tomorrow to resolve the labour crisis.
The aggrieved oil workers of the company on Thursday
shut down the company’s corporate head office in Lagos
indefinitely in protest over the attempt by the company to
sack over 150 workers.
The protesting workers had accused the company of
flagrant violation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry
Content Development (NOGICD) Act by deploying
expatriates to take over jobs for which there is local
capacity.
The workers had also insisted that the Managing Director
of the company, Mr. Nolan O’Neal, must be relieved of
his duties.
But top officials of the company who spoke off the record
at the weekend said that 2016 was a challenging year for
Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), a Nigerian affiliate of
ExxonMobil, with the profitability of the affiliate being the
worst in recent history.
According to one of the officials, while costs are down,
revenue is down by almost three quarter, even as the
company has spent more than its earnings to ensure that
its contractors and employees were paid.
“Some of the resultant effects on the business have
included scaled down operations, reduced personnel,
uplift project deferments, and contract renegotiations.
Against this backdrop, any responsible company would
take steps to ensure survival,” he said.
He described the company’s ongoing redundancy
programme, which he said was targeted at lower
performing employees, as one of the steps taken by the
company towards survival.
Another official of the company further revealed that the
employees impacted accounted for only about six percent
of the workforce that were offered an enhanced benefits
package in excess of the provisions of the collective
bargaining agreement (CBA) signed with the in-house
union.
He added that post-employment support programmes to
support their transition period from the company were
also included in the package.
“The severance payments driven by years of service and
additional redundancy gratuities are in some cases up to
N350 million for an employee. For the total population
affected, average payment per person hovers around
N140 million.
“The pay package covered redundancy pay of about 36
months basic salary, Settling-in allowance of up to two
months basic salary, additional pay to address economic
realities of up to three months basic salary, and notice
pay of three months basic salary,” he explained.
On the allegations of non-compliance with the extant
laws and agreements levelled against the company, the
official argued that neither the Nigerian labour law nor
the CBA with the union requires alignment between the
company and the union in the event of redundancy
actions.
According to him, the CBA (Clause 23b) states that
“whenever redundancy actions are contemplated, the
company shall inform the association of the intended
action and the association may bring to the company’s
attention any problems that it believes are involved”.
He added that the Nigerian Labour Act (Clause 20a) also
states that “in the event of redundancy, the employer
shall inform the trade union or workers’ representative
concerned of the reasons for and the extent of the
anticipated redundancy”.
The official revealed that the union disagreed with the
company’s notification, and also abandoned the
provisions of the CBA, which specifically states in Clause
13b that “if a dispute arises during the subsistence of the
agreement, either party shall comply with the current law
governing Trade Disputes in Nigeria and neither party
shall resort to arbitrary strike action or lockout”.
He accused the workers of disregarding the provisions of
the CBA to embark on actions that “border on
harassment of fellow employees, breach of security,
health and safety protocols, destruction of the company’s
property and other actions that impacted the general
welfare of all personnel including their members”.
“We even understand that they shut down power to the
staff clinic, and chased away medical personnel on duty,
thereby putting the lives of patients at risk,” he added.
He further disclosed that even with the intervention of
Kachikwu, who personally appealed to both the union
chairman and secretary, extending invitations for a
meeting tomorrow, the union resorted to taking steps
that might impact production activities within 24 hours.
On the allegation by the workers that the company was
hiring expatiates to replace Nigerians, the official
disclosed that the company had demobilised 40 per cent
of its expatriates in the wake of the current challenges.
According to him “We are at our lowest ever number of
expats in country.”
Despite the clarification provided by a source in
ExxonMobil, the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural
Gas Workers (NUPENG) said at the weekend that it
would begin a three-day nationwide warning strike by
January 9, 2017, against the anti-labour practice of the
international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the
country.
The South-west chairman of the union, Alhaji Tokunbo,
told newsmen in Lagos that the warning strike was
inevitable because all other options had failed.
According to Korodo, “We are not gaining anything by
going on strike because it is not a joyful thing but as a
union, we have to protect and fight for the welfare of our
members.
“We have sensitised the public and also sought the
intervention of the federal government over the anti-
labour activities of the IOCs on our members but we are
not getting results.
“Our members that put in their best within the duration of
time they worked were not paid their severance packages
by their employers when they sacked them.
“This is a big slap and it will not be allowed. What they
are practising here in Nigeria, they cannot practise in
their countries, so that is why we say enough is enough.
We will take the bull by the horn,” he said.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the
chairman said that the issues leading to the planned
warning strike were inherited by the present
administration, while some occurred within the same
government
U.S. oil giant, ExxonMobil Corporation, will pay up to
N350 million each to some of the sacked Nigerian
employees as severance payments, driven by years of
service and additional redundancy gratuities.
It was also learnt that of about six per cent of the
workforce affected by the right sizing carried out by the
firm, the average payment per person hovers around
N140 million, including redundancy pay of about 36
months basic salary.
This is coming as the Minister of State for Petroleum
Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has invited the protesting oil
workers under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural
Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) for a meeting
tomorrow to resolve the labour crisis.
The aggrieved oil workers of the company on Thursday
shut down the company’s corporate head office in Lagos
indefinitely in protest over the attempt by the company to
sack over 150 workers.
The protesting workers had accused the company of
flagrant violation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry
Content Development (NOGICD) Act by deploying
expatriates to take over jobs for which there is local
capacity.
The workers had also insisted that the Managing Director
of the company, Mr. Nolan O’Neal, must be relieved of
his duties.
But top officials of the company who spoke off the record
at the weekend said that 2016 was a challenging year for
Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), a Nigerian affiliate of
ExxonMobil, with the profitability of the affiliate being the
worst in recent history.
According to one of the officials, while costs are down,
revenue is down by almost three quarter, even as the
company has spent more than its earnings to ensure that
its contractors and employees were paid.
“Some of the resultant effects on the business have
included scaled down operations, reduced personnel,
uplift project deferments, and contract renegotiations.
Against this backdrop, any responsible company would
take steps to ensure survival,” he said.
He described the company’s ongoing redundancy
programme, which he said was targeted at lower
performing employees, as one of the steps taken by the
company towards survival.
Another official of the company further revealed that the
employees impacted accounted for only about six percent
of the workforce that were offered an enhanced benefits
package in excess of the provisions of the collective
bargaining agreement (CBA) signed with the in-house
union.
He added that post-employment support programmes to
support their transition period from the company were
also included in the package.
“The severance payments driven by years of service and
additional redundancy gratuities are in some cases up to
N350 million for an employee. For the total population
affected, average payment per person hovers around
N140 million.
“The pay package covered redundancy pay of about 36
months basic salary, Settling-in allowance of up to two
months basic salary, additional pay to address economic
realities of up to three months basic salary, and notice
pay of three months basic salary,” he explained.
On the allegations of non-compliance with the extant
laws and agreements levelled against the company, the
official argued that neither the Nigerian labour law nor
the CBA with the union requires alignment between the
company and the union in the event of redundancy
actions.
According to him, the CBA (Clause 23b) states that
“whenever redundancy actions are contemplated, the
company shall inform the association of the intended
action and the association may bring to the company’s
attention any problems that it believes are involved”.
He added that the Nigerian Labour Act (Clause 20a) also
states that “in the event of redundancy, the employer
shall inform the trade union or workers’ representative
concerned of the reasons for and the extent of the
anticipated redundancy”.
The official revealed that the union disagreed with the
company’s notification, and also abandoned the
provisions of the CBA, which specifically states in Clause
13b that “if a dispute arises during the subsistence of the
agreement, either party shall comply with the current law
governing Trade Disputes in Nigeria and neither party
shall resort to arbitrary strike action or lockout”.
He accused the workers of disregarding the provisions of
the CBA to embark on actions that “border on
harassment of fellow employees, breach of security,
health and safety protocols, destruction of the company’s
property and other actions that impacted the general
welfare of all personnel including their members”.
“We even understand that they shut down power to the
staff clinic, and chased away medical personnel on duty,
thereby putting the lives of patients at risk,” he added.
He further disclosed that even with the intervention of
Kachikwu, who personally appealed to both the union
chairman and secretary, extending invitations for a
meeting tomorrow, the union resorted to taking steps
that might impact production activities within 24 hours.
On the allegation by the workers that the company was
hiring expatiates to replace Nigerians, the official
disclosed that the company had demobilised 40 per cent
of its expatriates in the wake of the current challenges.
According to him “We are at our lowest ever number of
expats in country.”
Despite the clarification provided by a source in
ExxonMobil, the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural
Gas Workers (NUPENG) said at the weekend that it
would begin a three-day nationwide warning strike by
January 9, 2017, against the anti-labour practice of the
international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the
country.
The South-west chairman of the union, Alhaji Tokunbo,
told newsmen in Lagos that the warning strike was
inevitable because all other options had failed.
According to Korodo, “We are not gaining anything by
going on strike because it is not a joyful thing but as a
union, we have to protect and fight for the welfare of our
members.
“We have sensitised the public and also sought the
intervention of the federal government over the anti-
labour activities of the IOCs on our members but we are
not getting results.
“Our members that put in their best within the duration of
time they worked were not paid their severance packages
by their employers when they sacked them.
“This is a big slap and it will not be allowed. What they
are practising here in Nigeria, they cannot practise in
their countries, so that is why we say enough is enough.
We will take the bull by the horn,” he said.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the
chairman said that the issues leading to the planned
warning strike were inherited by the present
administration, while some occurred within the same
government
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