Itsekiri, Ijaw, Ilaje CPFSPW reject percentage salary increase, insist on same scale with production counterparts in fresh ultimatum to Chevron

Itsekiri, Ijaw and Ilaje Community Pipeline Facilities Surveillance Programme Workers, CPFSPW, under Chevron Nigeria Limited’s operational fields in Delta State, have rejected alleged proposal for a 10 percent salary increase from their existing monthly pay, ranging between one hundred and fifteen thousand naira (N115,000.00) and one hundred and thirty thousand naira (N130,000.00) per worker.

The aggrieved community workers, are insisting on the same salary scale with their counterparts in the production section of Chevron Nigeria Limited, who are said to be receiving about six hundred thousand naira monthly (N600,000.00).

The Chairman, Secretary and Public Relations Officer, PRO of Itsekiri, Ijaw and Ilaje Community Pipeline Facilities Surveillance Programme Workers, CPFSPW, Aderejor Raymond (Itsekiri) Daniel Diridumu (Ijaw) and Dickson Aghorunse (Ilaje) respectively, in a statement made available to Fresh Angle International in Warri, today, Tuesday April 9, warned that if by Friday April 19, their demand was not met, they would ground operations of Chevron Nigeria Limited in the fields where they work.

The trio, who stated that their position was fallout of a meeting they held Friday April 5 in Warri, noted: “During our meeting on April 5, information filtered that Chevron Nigeria Limited, was proposing to increase our salary by 10%, we strongly refuse the proposal. If by April 19, we are not called for negotiation, we will shut-down operations of Chevron in our locations.

“In 2023, we did a shut-down for water, light and employment. It was mentioned in the presence of the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, that harmonization should be done for those in the production section and we in the surveillance unit, but the company went ahead to increase the salary of our counterparts in production section and excluded us, even though all of us in the production section and surveillance unit, were initially on similar salary scale.

“We wrote several letters for this to be corrected, to no avail. Then we carried out the shut-down which made them to invite us. We were supposed to hold a meeting December 2023, but we waited to no avail. Instead, the leadership of the three ethnic Regional Development Councils of Itsekiri, Ijaw and Ilaje, under the GMoU Governance Model, were invited. We were finally invited on the 25th of January 2024. It was proposed that before the end of March (last month) the RDCs will come for negotiation. The salary difference, which was similar for those in production department and surveillance unit, now has the production section receiving far more than us. Chevron did not give any specific reason for the wide difference in our salary.”

Recall that the Community Pipeline Facility Surveillance Programme Workers, during an earlier petition to the management of Chevron Nigeria Limited, also demanded increase in manpower, good search light, safety gadgets as well as medicals and feeding of their members onboard.

According to CPFSPW, their members started the job since the year 2006 with N41,000.00 (Forty-one thousand Naira) as monthly salary and work more than 15hours a day, without feeding and medical, adding that in 2010, the Itsekiri Regional Development Committee, IRDC and Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL increased their monthly payment to one hundred and one thousand naira.

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