Work has come to a standstill at Ghana’s Jubilee field in the Western Region because workers operating the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah are currently on strike.
The workers, about 40 in number working for MODEC Ghana Limited, the company that operates the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah, say the strike is to protest poor working conditions.
They say the company pays expatriates workers more than the Ghanaian workers.
According to them, they receive an average of GHc2, 500 to GHc3000 a month while their expatriate counterparts take an average of about 5000 to 10,000 dollars, a difference of about 80%.
The aggrieved workers say they are not resuming work until something positive is heard from their employers.
The Secretary of the local union, Eric ofori told Citi News that “what we are saying is that we are working with other foreign nationals and a different standard is applied to them when it comes to remuneration and another different standard is applied to us.”
“The fact of the matter is that we are doing the same job and those foreign nationals are not more competent neither are they more qualified than us but the money that they are given are way above we the local workers. 72 percent of the workers offshore FPSO are locals and if the oil is slowing as at now then we should know which people are ensuring that the oil is slowing,” he added.
He indicated that various efforts to have the issue resolved by management of the Jubilee Field has proved futile hence the strike.
“We are doing highly skilled job that require competent people. Nobody is being trained we were poached from our companies as competent and qualified people. People who have worked in the gulf field are people who have worked in a suitable companies in Ghana, went to the offshore to go and work without any training or whatsoever and we have worked by excellence to ensure that production is consistent,” Eric ofori said.
Workers of the Africa Oilfield Services Limited, a Nigerian owned oil services provider in Takoradi on May 31 2014, also embarked on a similar strike action.
They accused management of attempting to swindle them by being dodgy anytime the local union leadership makes an effort to arrange a discussion.
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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana