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10/5/11 (AEIN) The oil company Mobil has terminated ninety-four workers employed at the Qua Iboe terminal in Akwa Ibom. National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers spokesman Bassey Harry urged the company to change the dismissal type so that workers will receive unemployment benefits, the News Agency of Nigeria reported Tuesday.
The spokesman explained that the union did not intend to demand that Mobil continue employing the workers. However, he said that the company should cancel its letters of termination and instead dismiss the workers as redundancies, because they were not guilty of any misconduct. This would ensure the provision of unemployed workers' benefits for the affected individuals.
Mobil and other western oil corporations operate extensively in the West African nation of Nigeria, one of the world's major oil-producing countries. Such companies have frequently come under criticism for corrupt practices and harmful policies regarding employment and environmental protection.