Joe R. Golowka JoeG at ieee.org Anarchist FAQ - http://www.anarchistfaq.org
"Necessity is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves." -William Pitt Jr. ----- Original Message ----- From: <MillerMemorials at aol.com> To: <ait-iwa-talk at list.uncanny.net>; <syndicalists at flag.blackened.net> Sent: Friday, June 22, 2001 6:13 PM Subject: [syndicalists] Nigerian labor news
> Dear friends and comrades,
>
> Here's some late labor breaking news out of Nigeria.
>
> In solidarity,
>
> Mitch
> (WSA)
>
>
>
> Oil Workers Plan Strike Next Week [The Guardian]
>
> http://allafrica.com/stories/200106200237.html
>
> June 20, 2001
> Lawal Yakubu
>
> Nigeria's oil and gas sector is facing for another ominous strike as the
> two dominant workers' bodies in the industry get ready for the action from
> Thursday next week.
>
> The junior workers under the umbrella of the National Union of Petroleum
> and Natural Gas (NUPENG), which served notice of the nation-wide strike to
> the government and employers in the industry, maintained that if they
> failed to address the issues of casualisation, arbitrary termination and
> victimisation of their members on the basis of participation in unionism,
> the group will down tool as stipulated.
>
> And in support of its sister union, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior
> Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), in a statement yesterday in
> Lagos by its National President and General Secretary, Mr. Shina Luwoye
> and Kenneth Warebor, emphasised that it could not be an officious by-
> stander in the matter.
>
> The union executives lamented that despite many presentations made to the
> present democratic government, it has refused to correct discriminatory
> practices and injustices in the industry, pointing out that this practice
> violate the labour laws and International Labour Organisation (ILO)
> conventions.
>
> According to PENGASSAN, both unions have been battling with the issues of
> casualisation, arbitrary termination of appointments and victimisation of
> oil and gas workers without success, as the prospecting companies have
> remained adamant while the government has equally demonstrated
> indifference to the exploitative practices in the industry.
>
> Accordingly, it then directed all PENGASSAN branches nation-wide to
> partake in the struggle of their colleagues in NUPENG.
>
> The group urged all the "branches not to take any action that would
> directly or indirectly frustrate the action of our comrade -NUPENG come
> June 28, 2001".
>
> If the strike goes ahead, it might paralyse oil activities in the upstream
> and downstream sector of the economy.
>
> It is also feared that it may lead to emergency prolonged fuel scarcity in
> the country as well as hitches in crude oil production and export.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Nurses Threaten Nationwide Strike, Issue Ultimatum [This Day]
>
> http://allafrica.com/stories/200106200336.html
>
> June 20, 2001
> Iyefu Adoba
>
> Abuja
>
> Despite pleas and entreaties for industrial peace from Health Minister,
> Professor Alphonsus Nwosu, the National Association of Nurses and
> Midwives
> (NANM), have threatened to go on strike on Monday over what they described
> as preferential treatment meted out to doctors by Federal Government.
>
> Speaking in Abuja yesterday at a meeting between the Health Minister and
> health professionals, the Acting General Secretary of NANM, Alhaji Nwogu
> Nwogu also requested that the circularisation of recently approved
> allowances which is supposed to be released today be halted until the
> interests of nurses are fully represented and a stratified parity in
> salaries between all health workers are put in place.
>
> Stating that preferential treatment in the health sector "will cause a big
> industrial burden because health professionals have been pushed to the
> wall by the activities of doctors who attend the same university and yet
> earn more than others" he said doctors do not have the competence or
> authority to negotiate salaries on behalf of other health workers.
>