The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers on Monday criticized former Nigeria Labour Congress President and Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, over his remarks on the ongoing industrial dispute between the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and Dangote Refinery management.

Speaking on Arise TV on Friday, Oshiomhole condemned PENGASSAN’s strike protesting the alleged dismissal of over 800 refinery workers, calling it “hasty and unfair to other workers.”

“I think that in seeking to protect a particular set of workers, you do not then risk the jobs of several other workers. When you are pursuing a dispute, the tools you deploy must be such that they do not undermine other people’s jobs”, Oshiomhole said.

In a statement jointly signed by NUPENG President Williams Akporeha and General Secretary Afolabi Olawale, the union described Oshiomhole’s remarks as “a betrayal of the working-class struggle” and “a complete distortion of Nigerian labour law.”

According to the statement titled “Senator Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole’s Undistinguished Anti-Worker Vitriol,” NUPENG charged the senator with “historical revisionism and political amnesia.”

“We witness with utter disappointment a former labour leader now transformed into a vocal advocate for corporate oppression, actively campaigning against the very rights he once championed.

“His attempts to rationalise the victimisation of workers for exercising their fundamental rights of association and peaceful action are not only nauseating but represent a flagrant misrepresentation of Nigerian Labour Law and ILO standards”, the statement partly read.

The union also criticized him for ignoring the alleged mass dismissal of 800 engineers while focusing his criticism on the strike action.

“Section 31 of the Trade Unions Act, Cap T14, LFN 2004, legally recognises trade disputes, including industrial actions undertaken by workers in sympathy with another group.

“PENGASSAN’s solidarity action with their members in Dangote Refinery is therefore a protected legal action. The principle that ‘an injury to one is an injury to all’ is the foundational ethic of trade unionism globally”, NUPENG added.

The union described Oshiomhole’s stance as “a dangerous toxin aimed at undermining the resolve of the working class and bolstering the interests of the class enemy,” likening him to “the Judas Iscariot of Nigerian trade unionism.”

“Shockingly, this was a man who served several times in the Governing Council of ILO and in the Committee on Application of Standards that receives reports on violations of workers’ rights across the world.

“It is unfortunate that Senator Adams Oshiomhole has, by his comments, demonstrated a monumental ignorance of trade unionism”, the union noted.

Declaring him persona non grata in the oil and gas sector, NUPENG said it would no longer attend any labour events involving the senator.