AP Top News｜尼日利亚政府将与石油工人工会会面，此前罢工导致全国供应中断

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) Nigerian government officials are set to meet with representatives of the countrys oil workers union on Monday, a union leader told The Associated Press, following a strike to protest the firing of oil workers at Africas biggest refiner . The walkout threatens to halt nationwide supply.

The union called Saturday on all its members to halt services after 800 oil workers were fired by Dangote Refinery, saying in a statement the mass layoff was an affront to all workers in Nigeria and a deliberate violation of Nigerias labour laws, the Constitution, and ILO conventions.

We are meeting with (government officials) this afternoon, said Lumumba Okugbawa, the secretary general of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, or PENGASSAN, one of two main unions representing gas and oil workers in the country.

The strike by the oil workers union has halted operations at the countrys key oil and gas institutions. The oil industry is responsible for 80% of the revenue of Africas most populous country and the continents biggest oil producer.

The nations oil and natural gas sector has struggled for many years , and most of the state-run refineries operate far below capacity because of poor maintenance, according to analysts.

Hundreds of Nigerian workers working in the refinery had recently unionized by joining PENGASSAN to demand better pay and a safer working environment, according to laid-off workers who spoke to the AP.

I worked there for two years and I did not get personal protective equipment, not even a face mask, said one of the laid-off engineers, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution. The boots I have currently were given to me by a colleague who left (the refinery). Everyone wants to leave.

Last week, Dangote Refinery said the workers, all Nigerian, had been sacked due to sabotage. This exercise is not arbitrary. It has become necessary to safeguard the refinery from repeated acts of sabotage that have raised safety concerns and affected operational efficiency, a statement by the company said.

In a separate statement, the company called PENGASSANs strike lawless and a criminal conduct.

A spokesperson for the company did not respond to a request for comments.

Aliko Dangote, Africas richest man, inaugurated the refinery, his most ambitious project, on the outskirts of the city of Lagos in May 2023 and began production last year after several years of delay.

The $20 billion piece of infrastructure has weaned Nigeria off external refinery processing and partly fixed the countrys acute foreign exchange problem that had exacerbated the economic woes of the West African nation under former president Muhammadu Buhari.

尼日利亚拉各斯（美联社）——一位工会领导人向美联社透露，为抗议非洲最大炼油厂解雇石油工人而举行的罢工已导致全国供应面临中断风险，尼日利亚政府官员将于周一与该国石油工人工会代表会面。

在丹格特炼油厂解雇800名石油工人后，工会于周六呼吁全体成员停止服务，并在声明中称此次大规模裁员是'对尼日利亚全体工人的侮辱，是对尼日利亚劳动法、宪法及国际劳工组织公约的蓄意违反'。

尼日利亚石油和天然气高级职员协会（PENGASSAN）秘书长卢蒙巴·奥库格巴瓦表示：“今天下午我们将与政府官员会面。”该协会是该国代表油气工人的两大主要工会之一。

石油工人工会发起的罢工已导致该国关键油气机构停止运营。作为非洲人口最多国家和该大陆最大产油国，其石油产业贡献了该国80%的财政收入。

分析师指出，该国石油和天然气行业多年来举步维艰，由于维护不善，大多数国营炼油厂的运营能力远低于设计产能。

据被解雇员工向美联社透露，数百名在炼油厂工作的尼日利亚工人近期通过加入石油和天然气高级职员协会（PENGASSAN）组建工会，要求提高薪资并改善工作环境的安全状况。

“我在那里工作了两年，却没有得到任何个人防护装备，甚至连口罩都没有，”一名被裁工程师因害怕遭到报复而匿名说道。“我现在穿的靴子还是一位离职（炼油厂）同事给的。所有人都想离开。”

上周，丹格特炼油厂表示，因蓄意破坏行为，已解雇所有涉事尼日利亚籍员工。公司声明称：此举并非武断决定。由于反复发生的破坏行为引发安全隐患并影响运营效率，采取这一措施对保护炼油厂十分必要。

该公司在另一份声明中，将尼日利亚石油和天然气高级职员协会（PENGASSAN）的罢工称为"违法行为"和"犯罪行径"。

该公司发言人未就置评请求作出回应。

非洲首富阿里科·丹格特于2023年5月在拉各斯市郊为其最具雄心的项目——炼油厂举行了落成仪式。该项目历经数年延误后，于去年正式投产。

这项价值200亿美元的基础设施建设使尼日利亚摆脱了对国外炼油加工的依赖，并部分缓解了该国外汇短缺的严峻问题——在前总统穆罕默杜·布哈里执政期间，这一问题曾加剧了这个西非国家的经济困境。