Union Calls Off the Strike in Nigeria

03-19-2008

A Nigerian oil workers' union said on Tuesday it was in talks with the government over a labour dispute at the local arm of ExxonMobil and any strike action had been put back until next week.

The senior oil workers' union PENGASSAN had previously threatened to call a strike in the oil sector starting on Wednesday.

It said after a meeting of its top officials on Tuesday that it would decide on whether to call a strike next week depending on the outcome of high-level talks with government.

"The central working committee has been mandated ... to take every step it deemed appropriate to prosecute a nationwide industrial action after the festive period," if the outcome was unacceptable to PENGASSAN, the union said in a statement.

It was referring to Muslim and Christian public holidays in Nigeria on March 19, 21 and 24.

The threatened strike would be to protest against the sacking of about 100 Nigerian workers by Exxon.

PENGASSAN had said the strike would affect the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil industry.

Strikes called by PENGASSAN and the junior oil workers NUPENG union in the past delayed a limited portion of oil exports from the world's eighth-biggest exporter, but in recent years the unions have failed to shut down the entire sector.

Oil companies have managed to maintain skeletal staffing levels at production facilities during the most recent strikes, allowing them to limit the impact on output.