Disengaged ExxonMobil junior workers protest short fall in terminal benefit Some 1,444 disengaged junior workers at ExxonMobil’s Qua Iboe Terminal in Akwa Ibom on...

Sacked Oil workers in ExxonMobil protesting paltry terminal benefit

Disengaged ExxonMobil junior workers protest short fall in terminal benefit

Some 1,444 disengaged junior workers at ExxonMobil’s Qua Iboe Terminal in Akwa Ibom on Thursday said the shortage in their terminal benefits was unacceptable.

More than 1,000 of the sacked workers participated on a protest march on the streets of Eket metropolis displaying placards.

The workers who sang solidarity songs during the protests said they embarked on the exercise to draw public attention to their plight.

Mr Aniefiok Ekong, Secretary, Sacked Janitorial Staff in ExxonMobil locations in Akwa Ibom said that the workers were surprised that their terminal benefits were slashed unilaterally by the oil firm without recourse to earlier agreements.

“As we speak, our leaders were summoned to Abuja over the matter and we have observed that the some of our members’ names are missing on the list that Mobil pasted at the Terminal. Even the amount of money paid to those on the list was a far cry from what is stated on the agreement so we are going on the streets to say that we will not be part of this. We want the payment suspended until our leaders find out the rational for their reneging on what is in the collective bargaining agreement with NUPENG,” Ekong said.

Felix Nnorom, one of the affected workers also said that the terminal benefits offered to the workers ranged from N150,000 to N270,000 for those who had served for between 15 and 20 years.

Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), an affiliate of US oil firm ExxonMobil outsources its labour needs to community contractors who provide the workforce require by the oil firm for its operations.

The oil firm had in a statement signed by Nigel Cookey-Gam, Communications Manager in MPN dissociated from the agitation of the workers.

It will be recalled that the agitation by the workers affected by the downsizing of workforce at the Qua Iboe oil terminal had frequently disrupted operations of the oil firm.

The development has elicited widespread criticisms on the insensitivity of the American oil firm which compelled the management to seek a resolution of the industrial dispute.

Arodiegwu Eziukwu