Dangote refinery redeploys sacked workers
A major development has emerged in the ongoing labour dispute at Dangote Petroleum Refinery, one of Africa’s largest private-refinery operations. Following a stalemate between the refinery’s management and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over the dismissal of over 800 workers, the company has committed to redeploying those engaged staff to other subsidiaries within the Dangote Group without loss of pay.
The dispute began when PENGASSAN accused the refinery of sacking Nigerian workers for unionising, and replacing them with foreign staff. The refinery’s management denied targeting unionised workers, stating that the dismissals formed part of a broader “reorganisation” aimed at combating sabotage in various units.
In mediation convened by the federal government, the parties reached a resolution under which: the dismissed workers would be absorbed into other Dangote Group companies on equivalent pay; union-membership rights would be respected; and the nationwide strike threatened by the union would be called off.
While the reports specify redeployment into other group companies (such as cement and sugar operations) rather than explicitly to locations in Borno or Zamfara states, one insider source noted engineers were reallocated to the group’s sugar and cement plants.
