This is so sad..Workers have no right in Nigeria..
They have no future....
One can just wake up to find they have been
locked out of a job they toiled for years to help
grow...
THE LEADERSHIP,
PENGASSAN,
288, IKORODU ROAD,
ANTHONY,
LAGOS
Cc : DPR, NAPIMS
Dear Sir,
APPEAL FOR SUPPORT AND URGENT
INTERVENTION
This letter would have come earlier, we painfully
but sincerely admit, especially when we initially
nurtured the thought of starting the Union in our
entity. But for reasons which we would in the
latter part of this letter highlight, we opted to
defer the establishment of the Union for a more
opportune time.
It is however inevitable at this time, under this
strenuous circumstance, to make to you a clarion
call, for desperate times call for desperate
measures.
The information may have filtered through to you
– by way of news or rumour – of how Oando
Energy Resources (OER) have slashed a
significant percentage of its work force, but we
would also like to formally communicate that to
you as well as the true situation of things.
On Monday, 30th of November, 2015, the CEO of
OER, Mr. Pade Durotoye, called and Emergency
Townhall Meeting of all OER staff at about
4:40pm. The meeting served the purpose of
communicating Management’s intention to
immediately embark on a retrenchment exercise.
The meeting lasted about 20 minutes, till 5:00pm
(i.e. COB). The staff to be affected would be
communicated by way of letters, the following
day Tuesday, 1st of December, 2015. It was like
a bombshell and rendered the entire work floor
cold with eerie silence and shell shock.
This announcement came just few weeks after
the Group Chief Executive of Oando Plc, Mr
Jubril Adewale Tinubu, in a townhall/video
conference prior to the public release of the
company’s 2014 Consolidated Financials, made a
categorical statement that no Oando staff would
be fired for any reason relating to the current
business climate and bad business fortune
occasioned by the falling oil prices which led to
huge impairment losses with significant final
loss on the books. Suffice here to say that the
action to sack staff is a direct betrayal of the
earlier assurances.
On Tuesday the 1st of December 2015, before
9:00am, the Chief Human Resource Officer, Mr.
Ademola Ogunbanjo, came with the letters to the
open work space, called staff to gather round
and one after the other handed the letter to
staff. Those who were retained got letters titled
‘Notice of Continued Service’ while those
affected got letters titled ‘Notice of Redundancy ’ .
About 90% of peopled fired were officers. Most
managers retained their jobs.
We would hereby highlight our grievances, in no
particular order or preference, whilst appealing
to your good offices for urgent intervention:
The staff had been assured that no
one will be sacked. This assurance
had made a number of staff now
affected, already prospecting other
opportunities to put aside getting
another job. This is blatant
insincerity and directly oppositional
to one of the company’s core
values – Integrity;
The notice of redundancy was too
urgent, hasty and of immediate
effect;
The severance package is too
meagre. The amount offered to
each affected staff is less than 9%
of the Annual Gross Salary;
Staff were not given enough time
to handover and clear personal
documents. Staff were denied
access to the network and work
station as early as from Friday the
4th of December 2015, a date
earlier than the effective date
stated on the letter being 31st
December 2015;
Cost cutting and general expense
reduction drive was among reasons
cited for the downsizing. However,
the cadre of staff mainly affected
is the lower level comprising the
least earners in the company. The
highest earners all retained their
jobs;
All staff affected have not been
found wanting in terms of
performance and dedication on the
job. Performance on the job, going
by the formal appraisal system and
the company’s HR Policy, was not
a yardstick that was used. One of
the company’s slogan it might
interest you to note is that the
company is a ‘ Performance Driven ’
organization;
The basis for the exercise was not
at any time explained. It remains
unknown why those who were
affected were dropped;
The distribution of letters was done
as a roll call in full public glare of
every member of staff rather than
the more dignified way of calling
staff one by one in private;
Some of the affected staff were
poached from other companies less
than six months ago, and they are
already being evicted from the job
they have sacrificed so much for;
As a company that parades itself
as proudly African, it is quite
ironical that only Nigerians were
fired while the foreign expatriates
are not affected. This is a seeming
violation of Section 10 of the
Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (“NNPC”) Act, Sections
9(1) (b) and 12(1)of the Petroleum
Act and Section 28 of the Nigerian
Oil and Gas Industry Content Act,
which generally provides that
Nigerians shall be given first
consideration for employment and
training in the oil and gas industry;
As a company that claims to be
world class, the least expected is
to give a just compensation (as
similar companies that have
embarked on such exercise would
do) and handle the process with
utmost dignity and respect for
human beings. This is not the
case;
A few months ago, staff of the
company thought of establishing a
union having attained the required
quorum. Management, on getting
the wind of this called for a
meeting, asking staff to set up a
committee, which would represent
an informal union, with the
assurance that the committee
would be accorded with the same
seriousness and respect deserving.
The first sign of insincerity was
when 40% of elected members of
the committee were forced to step
down by the HR office and
replaced with their own selection.
The second sign was when every
recommendation put forth by staff
via the committee was turned
down, and in exchange, HR issued
out letters of what they felt they
were willing to give – all be it –
even without reaching any form of
agreement with staff. After seeing
so many staff unceremoniously laid
off, a member of the management
executive confessed to how the
whole committee set up was
intentionally orchestrated to derail
staff from joining the Union;
The DPR ‘ Guidelines and Procedures
for the Release of staff in the
Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry ’ (‘ The
2015 Guidelines’) requires the
approval of the Minister of
Petroleum Resources for the
release of employees from their
job. We do not believe that the
Minister’s consent has been
obtained by OER in laying off staff;
We believe that the retrenchment
exercise is malicious, ill advised,
undignified, unprofessional, and
demeans the years and months of
dedication and hard work the staff
have put in whilst with the
company.
We would like you to come to our aid and
intervene in the situation in a spirit of solidarity.
What we demand in addition to addressing the
highlighted issues are:
OER to render an unreserved
apology to affected staff for
treating them with indignity;
That the severance package be
reviewed to an amount obtainable
in companies that have retrenched
staff recently especially where the
staff are unionized. At least four
years’ gross pay would be
acceptable;
OER to agree in writing that,
should oil price return to at least
$50/bbl, the affected staff who are
still available would be reinstated
since performance was not the
basis for the pruning down
exercise;
OER to maintain benefits due to
staff throughout their search for
another job;
OER to promise in writing not to
victimise staff once the business
fortunes reverse and staff are to
be reabsorbed;
PENGASSAN to mandate OER to
establish Union in the organization;
We have also attached herewith, some
documents that give evidence to our story and
support our claims.
We would like your candid advice as to the next
steps while anticipating your fullest support,
benevolence, solidarity and comradery as we
weather the storm together.
One in heart and mind,
Brothers with a common debt
Victoria Acerta!
Solidarity Forever!!
Yours sincerely,
Aggrieved staff of OER.
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