Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN Shell Branch) have threatened to embark on an indefinite strike for the refusal of Shell to give workers palliative, following the economic persisting hardship.
The protesters carried several placards with different inscriptions such as “provide palliative for workers, unbearable debt burden on Staff, No to less pay for more work, subsidy removal pains should not be on Staff alone” amongst others.
Speaking to journalists while carrying out a 3 days warning strike at the entrance of Shell Industrial Area, Port Harcourt, Chairman Trade Union Congress TUC, Comrade Ikechukwu Onyefuru, described the refusal to give workers palliative as racism against Nigerian Shell workers.
Onyefuru lamented that workers’ salaries can no longer meet their needs as a result of the high rise in the cost of goods and services which is taking a toll on workers.
He threatened that after the 3-day warning strike, if the company refuses to address the issue on the ground, they will proceed to an indefinite strike.
“As you are aware, the federal government removed fuel subsidy on May 29, 2023, and immediately, inflation tripled and the cost of goods and services rose by over 300 percent all these impacted the purchasing power of Nigerian workers, especially Shell staff and all service providers in Shell.
“Shell has a little over 2500 direct staff in Nigeria, and over 16,000 contract staff and other category staff, therefore we are looking at about 20,000 families that depend on Shell.
“Our wage has lost value to the tune of over 60 percent as of last week, the cost of petrol has increased to N617 per liter and we heard it is about to be increased to 720 per liter. All these have impacted all Shell workers in Nigeria.
“We approached Shell on June 26, 2023, for a palliative but they refused and said they will only negotiate with us in 2024.
“Venezuela, Argentina, and Turkey had similar issues but Shell approved palliative for those countries, so we are asking why is Shell refusing to approve palliative for us in Nigeria? Is it
