PENGASSAN Wants Expatriate Regulations Enforced

Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has appealed to the Federal Government to ensure that all regulations regarding the use of expatriates in the oil and gas industry are enforced in order to guide against expatriate quota abuse.
Rising from its recent workshop, the Port Harcourt Zone of the union, cautioned that the influx of foreigners into the oil and gas industry without regard to extant regulations has led to massive capital flight; leading to worsening unemployment situation in the country.
The workshop urged government to enforce relevant expatriate understudy regulations as well as institute stakeholders’ technical committee to assess expatriate quota applications in the interest of industrial peace and national development.
The union also condemned the use of casual staff by some employers of labour and called on the government and relevant agencies to check and eradicate this ugly trend of casualisation, even as it decried what it called unrestrained use of casualisation by some employers of labour.
Calling on the labour ministry to ensure that labour contractors comply strictly with laws regarding outsourcing, the union warned that only labour contractors that possess the requisite legal, administrative, technical and financial capabilities should be licensed to render such services.
“The workshop enjoins the association to ensure the harmonisation of remuneration for all employees under the direct supervision of the principals and resolved that henceforth principals shall be held vicariously liable by the association for agents’ (Labour Contractors) deviations in labour relations matters.
In addition, the association should engage employers of labour for the systematic and continuous conversion of these categories of employees into regular employment, like some organisations in the industry.
“The workshop frowned at the subsisting bourgeoning trend of influx of all manners of foreigners into the Oil and Gas Industry without regards to extant regulations under the guise of expatriates, who have not proved in most times to be experts, leading to massive capital flight, and has continued to worsen unemployment in the country,” the participants stated.