ExxonMobil faces Nigeria strike threat

A Nigerian oil workers' union is calling for a strike in the oil sector starting on Wednesday to protest about a labour dispute at the Nigerian arm of ExxonMobil, a union leader said today.

Bayo Olowoshile, secretary general of the senior oil workers union Pengassan, said the strike was over the sacking of about 100 union members from ExxonMobil and it would affect the upstream and downstream sectors.

"We've been having very serious labour relations issues with the management of ExxonMobil. We've been taking steps to resolve the problems but management has gone ahead and sacked about 100 of our members," he told Reuters by telephone.

In the past, strikes organised by Pengassan and its sister union Nupeng have delayed a limited portion of Nigeria's oil exports, but in recent years the unions have failed to shut down the entire sector.

Olowoshile said the call for a strike would be formalised at a meeting of Pengassan's national executive council scheduled to hold in the south-eastern city of Calabar tomorrow, and the strike would be effective from Wednesday morning.

"It is going to affect all locations, upstream, downstream, import, export. An injury to one is an injury to all," he said.

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

ExxonMobil officials were not immediately available to comment. The Guardian newspaper quoted the company's external affairs manager, Akin Fatunke, as saying employees affected by a rationalisation programme had been fairly treated.

"In compliance with local law, we signed a severance agreement with Pengassan in Abuja on 2 December 2007, under the mediation of the Federal Ministry of Labour, and we have paid compensation and benefits which are among the best in the industry," he was quoted as saying.