The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has declared its full solidarity with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) in the union’s ongoing dispute with Dangote Refinery over fuel distribution in the country.
In a statement issued on Saturday and signed by its president, Comrade Joe Ajaero, the NLC said Nigerian workers must not be “sacrificed on the altar of corporate greed,” warning that its solidarity with NUPENG is “not negotiable.”
The face-off follows NUPENG’s directive to its Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch to suspend the loading of petroleum products from Dangote depots beginning Monday, September 8.
At the centre of the crisis is the refinery’s alleged decision to bar drivers employed for its 10,000 compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks from joining any trade union.
The NLC said it had carefully studied NUPENG’s petition and received other complaints from unions against Dangote, accusing the company of anti-union practices, monopolistic strategies, and indecent industrial relations.
It further alleged that Dangote Group has been systematically denying workers their constitutional right to freedom of association by forcing them into “company unions” designed to weaken collective bargaining power.
Describing the situation as a direct attack on the Nigerian working class, the Congress accused the refinery of exploitative labour practices, poor wages, casualisation, and reliance on foreign workers at the expense of qualified Nigerians.
It added that instead of lowering costs, the Dangote monopoly “exploits scarcity and control of distribution to raise prices, thereby deepening poverty and hardship.”
“This is not industrialisation; it is economic sabotage. It is not nation-building; it is class robbery,” the statement declared. “What we are witnessing is the classic playbook of primitive capitalism, where workers are treated as slaves without voice or dignity.”
The NLC also cited Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, the Labour Act, and ILO Conventions 87 and 98, insisting that Dangote’s alleged practices are in direct violation of national and international labour laws.
As part of its response, the Congress outlined the following demands:
The NLC emphasised that the dispute goes beyond NUPENG, describing it as an assault on the entire labour movement.
“The attack on NUPENG is an attack on us all,” the statement read. “Our Constitution and international conventions guarantee our right to organise, collectively bargain, and defend our dignity at work. We will resist every attempt by the Dangote Group to roll back these rights.”
It warned that if Dangote fails to immediately halt what it described as “anti-union and anti-people policies,” the Congress and its affiliates would escalate the matter.
“We warn that if Dangote continues on this reckless anti-union path, the NLC and its affiliates will move beyond words to action.
“We will confront this tyranny head-on until victory is secured for Nigerian workers and the Nigerian people,” the statement added.
“Our solidarity is not negotiable. We will fight because we must. The working class must not be sacrificed on the altar of corporate greed.”