Nigeria oil union suspends strike after accord with companies

ABUJA, Nigeria (Bloomberg) -- Nigeria’s blue-collar oil union suspended a planned three-day warning strike that began Wednesday after the government brokered a deal between workers and oil companies, including units of Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp.

Union leaders called off the strike late Wednesday after an “exhaustive meeting” with oil company representatives and the minister of labor, Adamson Momoh, a spokesman for the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, or Nupeng, said by phone Thursday from the capital, Abuja.

The companies “agreed to revive the collective agreement that was stalled, payment of workers entitlements and see how some sacked workers can be reinstated or their terminal benefits paid,” he said. Talks will continue in two weeks “to assess implementation of resolutions reached.”

The 250,000-member Nupeng was protesting job cuts, wrongful termination of contracts and redundancies in the oil industry. Nigeria’s two main oil unions have protested against job cuts by oil companies in recent weeks. Nupeng on Jan. 6 suspended a similarly planned strike at a lubricant facility operated by Total SA’s local unit after reaching an agreement with the company.