Total E&P Nigeria Limited (TEPNG)? has given reasons for dismissing of its staff, Mrs. Elo, whom leadership of ational Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) said it was part of the reasons for its planned warning strike.
It would be recalled that petroleum and gas workers in the country had listed the dismissal of Mrs. Elo among the cause of its warning strike.
Total in a document made available to our correspondent late on Tuesday said Elo was sacked with due process been followed.
The document was signed by Charles Ogan, Deputy General Manager ? Policy, Media and Coordination, Total Nigeria.???????? ?
The oil company explained that Elo took laws into her hands and refused to make her complain known through the right authorities.
Part of the document read, “The attention of Total E&P Nigeria Limited (TEPNG) has been drawn to statements in the media allegedly made on December 14, 2014 by the National leadership of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) that the three day warning strike is in part designed to press ?for the reinstatement of the National Zonal Secretary of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Mrs. Elo who was sacked by Total E&P Nigeria Ltd?.
“Following a routine corporate reorganization, 71 employees from Port Harcourt and Abuja including Mrs. Elo, were given letters of transfer to Lagos in August, 2014. Mrs. Elo received a transfer and inconvenience allowance of more than Nine Million Naira and then refused to proceed to her new location.
“Instead of approaching the Company in which she was an employee, to re-consider her transfer, she complained to a number of external parties and agencies and invited them to intervene in a routine internal employer ? employee matter. She sought to force a reversal of the transfer, citing her role as a Port Harcourt Zonal official of the union.
“At the same time, Mrs. Elo absented herself from work without permission for over thirty days. Total had the option to summarily dismiss her for refusing to proceed on transfer and/or for absenting herself for more than seven days without permission, both a clear breach of the terms of her employment contract which she signed. TEPNG was magnanimous in waiting for thirty days before terminating her employment contract with full benefits even though she has not yet refunded the transfer allowance of over Nine Million Naira.”
Total noted that said the labour dispute process failed due to lack of interest from the labour groups.
It added, “?A Labour Dispute process was launched at the Federal Ministry of Labour by PENGASSAN who then declined to pursue this option. TEPNG supports this process which should be allowed to proceed to allow knowledgeable third parties to review the facts and make an informed decision with the participation of all parties.
“PENGASSAN and NUPENG have been strong representatives of our employees for more than 35 years and we fully respect the rights of our employees to participate in union activities. We will continue to work with both unions in the interest of staff and the development of the oil and gas sector.”
