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Nigerian oil union agrees with Dangote Petroleum to end strike

The Nigerian labour ministry announced that the oil workers' union in Nigeria has called off its strike following a meeting between the management of Dangote Petroleum, and government officials.

The strike was called because the Dangote Refinery, Africa's biggest refinery with a crude-processing capacity of 650,000 barrels a day, dismissed over 800 unionised employees. The walkout threatened the fuel supply and trade in West Africa.

In a press release issued after a meeting of conciliation between the PENGASSAN and Dangote Petroleum, the labour ministry stated that dismissed workers will be offered jobs at other Dangote Group companies without any loss in pay.

The Labour Minister told the meeting that workers have a right to unionise and this should be respected.

The statement also said that "PENGASSAN has agreed to begin the process of ending the strike."

PENGASSAN reported on Friday that the workers at Dangote, a privately-owned refinery, were fired on Thursday because they had unionised.

Officials at Dangote refining said that the dismissals took place as part of an internal reorganization and accused the affected individuals of acts of sabotage.

(source: Reuters)