NEWS
PENGASSAN protests unpaid salaries at BelemaOil premises
Members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) staged a protest at the premises of BelemaOil Producing Limited in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
Their demonstration was in response to what they claimed to be three months of unpaid salaries and the maltreatment of workers within the company.
Around 9 am, workers gathered at the entrance of the company, displaying placards with various inscriptions to highlight their grievances.
Some of the messages on the placards included, “Belema Oil: No salary structure, No bonus, No Field Allowance”, and “BPL: release our condition of service, right years enslavement”.
Ese Okusi, the National Auditor 2 of PENGASSAN, spoke to reporters during the protest, stating that the association had been in discussions with the company to address the issues raised by the workers.
However, Okusi claimed that no concrete agreement had been reached with the management.
According to Okusi, workers at BelemaOil were engaged without proper conditions of service and with little concern for their welfare.
He urged the company’s management to urgently address the concerns of the workers to prevent further escalation of the situation.
The Chairman of PENGASSAN’s BelemaOil branch, Dan Opusingi, expressed similar sentiments, stating that workers had been subjected to maltreatment since the inception of the company in 2016.
Opusingi lamented the absence of a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and criticized the company for failing to honor agreements reached with the workers.
Opusingi also raised concerns about the welfare of workers, citing instances of casualization, lack of healthcare, and inadequate remittance of pension contributions.
He declared that the workers would continue to occupy the premises until their demands were met.
Despite the protest, there was no response from the management of BelemaOil.
The workers vowed to maintain their stance until their grievances were addressed satisfactorily.
