…demands conducive work environment, quality healthcare services for staff/retirees, ors

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, has shut down operation in ExxonMobil deep water, cutting shut 70% of oil production in protest of unresolved lingering issues between employees and management of the company.

They alleged that the company under the current leadership is on a mission to decimate their workforce with the current management style, accusing Lead Country Manager, Mr. Richard Laing, for midwifing sustained anti-people regime in the history of ExxonMobil Nigeria.

The Union listed some of the unresolved lingering issues to include inhumane primary healthcare deliverables for workers and retirees, militarization of work environment, increased workload and unprecedented attrition, poor welfare packages, severed public, government and community relations, non implementation of Legacy Employee Savings Plans (LESP), among other issues.

Speaking with this reporter, the Chairman of PENGASSAN, ExxonMobil Branch, Comrade Kings Udoidua said, “The Company under the current leadership seems to be on a mission to decimate the workforce with their current management style. The entrenchment of this situation by the company has left Nigerian employees psychologically stupefied, emotionally overwhelmed and financially hemorrhaging and work-life imbalanced with its attendant burnout.

“Mediation efforts via the historic platform of Industrial and Employee Relations (IR) have yielded little or no results but have rather hardened the Company and its leadership against its own employees such that anything that could bring relief to workers is considered anathema.

Udoidua further stated that militarization of company facilities is very alarming as there are more military, police, civil defense and PGL personnel manning Qua Iboe Terminal (QIT) gates than there are Operators in the plant.

“Not one personnel have employee ID card and what they call access card still requires email approval for us to access company facilities outside our primary work locations. As employees of ExxonMobil, it is easier to access Chevron, Shell, Total, etc, than be allowed to access facilities of a Company you work for,” Udoidua added.

He said this oppressive and humiliating treatment has untold psychological effects on employees and has to stop, therefore demands for provision of Company Issued Identification Card and humane security processing into Company offices anywhere in Nigeria.

Investigation confirmed that headcount reduction in ExxonMobil has continued unabated as the level of attrition is unprecedented, saying that Contracts hires are given subliminal threats against Unionization while Labour Relations issues are treated with levity with unwarranted grandstanding by Company Leadership.

https://noisemakerng.ng/2022/09/14/pengassan-shut-down-exxonmobil-operation/