Sacked Oil Workers Protest Unpaid Severance Packages In Rivers

Chukwudi Akasike, Port Harcourt
Some sacked oil workers, who were formerly
with multinational company, Baker Hughes
Nigeria Limited, took to the streets on earlier in
the week to protest an alleged non-payment of
the severance/redundancy packages since they
were relieved of their jobs.
The ex-oil workers, who were over 300, stood
for about two hours at the gate of the National
Industrial Court in Port Harcourt, where they
had instituted a case against their former
company over the development.
The ex-oil workers lamented that the
management of the company had unduly served
them with redundancy letter without paying
them their packages.
They claimed that the firm did not follow
Nigerian Constitution before laying them off,
adding that some of them had served the firm
for 10 years before they were sacked.
Some of the inscriptions on the sacked oil
workers' placards read 'Baker Hughes, pay us
like Congo, Gabon, Chad, Cameroun', 'We make
60 percent market share in Nigeria', 'Please, pay
us our redundancy package' and 'Baker Hughes,
Nigerian employees are the leaders in the geo-
market'.
One of them (protesters), who identified himself
as Lawson, explained that having served the
company for 16 years, he was surprised that he
could laid off unceremoniously.
Lawson stated that most of those sacked by the
company could no longer cater for themselves
and their families as a result of the non-
payment of their severance packages.
"We were all employed and everybody
contributed to the success and growth of the
company. We contributed in different ways to
make sure that the company succeeded in
Nigeria.
"At a stage, the company did everything possible
and was able to proscribe union. The company
forced us into what is called individual contract.
Our worry is that we were forced to resign.
"Anybody who refused to sign that contract
would be laid off. Because of the country that
we are operating, you are not very sure if you
would lose your job, you are going to get
another one. So, we were forcefully made to
sign the contract.
"In that contract, you were not told that there
would be anything like redundancy in the first
place. The contract did not state that. One day,
the management just got up and said they were
going to lay us off.
"We know that any company operating in any
country would operate under the laws of the
land. If there should be any redundancy, there
is an act covering it, which means that before
they can lay off anybody, the employee and the
employer would have to have a negotiation.
"The two parties would agree so that it is well
spelt out on the terms and the amount to be
paid. Again, a representative from the Ministry
of Labour has to be there. Baker Hughes didn't
do all these. They just started laying people off
without following due process," Lawson added.
Similarly, another former worker that was also
laid off, John Ofoegbu, told newsmen that he
was working when a letter came from the
management of the company, directing him to
leave the firm's premises.
"I had worked for Baker Hughes for eight years.
We are here in court to seek redress for the ill-
treatment that was meted out on us by a
company we loved so much.
"We expected them to obey the laws of the land.
They should adhere to the laws of Nigeria. The
Labour law states that there are steps to be
taken before laying off a worker," Ofoegbu
added.
However, the National Industrial Court sitting in
Port Harcourt adjourned the 277 suits filed
before it by the disengaged workers of Baker
Hughes Nigeria Limited till December 4, 2017,
for hearing of preliminary objections by the
firm, who is the defendant.
Justice Ibrahim Awal, who presided over the
matter, also adjourned till November 13, 2017,
14 separate suits filed before it by widows of
deceased workers, who died after being laid off
by the firm.
The angry workers had approached the
industrial court to prevail on the oil company to
pay their redundancy package, which they put
at over N13 billion.