GE Nigeria workers cordon off headquarters over salary dispute

Striking Nigerian workers cordoned off the country headquarters of U.S. industrial firm General Electric (GE.N) in Lagos on Wednesday in a dispute over wages, a trade union official said.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) "today picketed General Electric head offices in Lagos over unpaid salaries of some staff," said Lumumba Okugbara, acting general secretary for the union.

He said GE had made commitments to pay ARCO, which the union said was a maintenance subcontractor that had failed to pay salaries, allowances and other entitlements. Some of the workers affected are PENGASSAN members.

Okugbara said members of the trade union, one of Nigeria's two main organizations representing oil workers, also picketed GE offices in southeastern oil hub Port Harcourt and was considering picketing offices in the capital, Abuja, later in the week.

"GE is in direct discussions with ARCO and relevant stakeholders, and anticipates an amicable resolution of all concerns," GE spokesman Segun Obagbemi said.