The Petroleum Commission of Ghana says it is surprised that MODEC, one of the private companies working at Ghana’s Jubilee oil field had sacked it’s local workers, despite frantic efforts to settle their differences amicably.
The Ghanaian workers laid down their tools on October 29, in protest against pay disparities between expatriates and locals on the rig.
They accused MODEC of paying expatriates workers better than the Ghanaian workers.
[contextly_sidebar id=”xKTzkhAXOVx0FOk1GY9yW7LGTOkjB6FP”]But management of MODEC on Monday dismissed the Ghanaian workers despite having agreed on a roadmap to solve the crisis.
However, speakingo on the Citi Eye Witness News on Tuesday, Edmund Nartey, Marketing and Communications officer at the Petroleum Commission said they have not received any information from MODEC about the dismissal
He insisted that “as far as the commission is concerned there was an MoU which all the parties have appended their signatures to which we were working with, now so the dismissal letters that have been issued to staff now, the commission hasn’t been furnished with the reason why.”
Reports indicate that MODEC took the decision after the workers refused to sign a bond of good behavior.
Mr Nartey further argued that “based on the MoU, there is a clear way forward so if workers haven’t signed their bond which is internal to MODEC’s own way of managing their workers and they want to take the next line of action, we are of the view that the commission at least should have been informed of something of that nature because you are going contrary to an MoU that you have signed with us, this is what we all agreed to do.”
Meanwhile, speaking on the same programme, Francis Sallah, Deputy General Secretary for the General Transport Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union of the TUC said the dismissal was unfair.
“This letter that came from management is unfair, it is totally uncalled for and this nation is not ready for this. These guys are not children, not those that were picked on streets, they were graduates,” he fumed.
He however called for the workers to be reinstated immediately before they will avail themselves for further negotiations.
Meanwhile, the remaining 12 Ghanaian workers at MODE have also withdrawn their services in solidarity with their colleagues who have been sacked.
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By: Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/citifmonline.com/Ghana