In the eyes of the operators of Jubilee oil field, it was a record time of development from discovery to first\u00a0oil in\u00a0December 15, 2010. To the government of Ghana, getting the Petroleum Revenue Management Act 815\u00a0in\u00a0March 2011, 3 months after first oil, \u201cwas good decision to guide how oil revenues were going to be spent\u201d. To some Ghanaians, it was a do or die affair at getting oil jobs. To the already employed staff of some oil companies, there was fire on the mountain!<\/p>\n
\u201cOur faith was hanging in the balance when you were all jubilating over the new found oil. At that time I asked myself if we were going to be treated same as our colleagues with equal competence in Algeria, Kenya and others? Were we going to be given similar or same conditions of work? These were the issues that went through my mind.\u201d Charles Acheampong, Union member, Schlumberger-Takoradi.<\/p>\n
In the beginning of the boom, expatriates were largely at the forefront. Along the line, many Ghanaians got on. Today, it is reported that there are some 7,000 persons working in the oil industry in Ghana, made up of over 70 percent Ghanaians. [Petroleum Commission, 2016].<\/p>\n
While the Petroleum Commission is excited about the numbers, truth is, the 7,000 or so are\u00a0habouring\u00a0a\u00a0lot\u00a0pain. The expectations in the area of payoffs are shattering. Many of the staffs working in this highly skilled field are paid GH7.00 a day, the minimum wage, and the Labour Act 651 of 2003 agrees with it. The result is the accounts below.<\/p>\n
Fruits of failure?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n In November 2011, Workers of Weatherford Services Limited, a Scottish oil service company based in Takoradi, demonstrated at the company\u2019s premises to express their displeasure over intimidation and poor working conditions.<\/p>\n On 7th March 2014, workers of\u00a0Schlumbeger\u00a0in Takoradi protested against salary disparities between locals and expatriates. The attempt to seek redress ended up in a deadlock.<\/p>\n On October\u00a029th\u00a02014, 25 workers of MODEC, operators of the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah on the Jubilee Fields embarked on industrial action in protest for better conditions of work.<\/p>\n On January\u00a022nd\u00a02015, 9 workers of\u00a0SKARM\u00a0Construction and Engineering Services Limited in Takoradi were sacked for joining\u00a0union. The nine were believed to be executives of the company\u2019s local union.<\/p>\n It couldn’t have gotten any better if Ghanaian Oil Companies had not behaved similarly. This time, it was workers of the state\u2019s own gas facility, Ghana Gas.\u00a0In\u00a0August 26, 2016, workers at the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant at Atuabo in the Ellembelle district of the western region also demonstrated, demanding\u00a0better-working\u00a0conditions. The result was sacking leading members of the protest.<\/p>\n Baker Hughes and co were also on redundancy spree to the dismay of workers. At one point, a worker is declared redundant but within days, the same worker is called back on contract basis for the same post he was declared redundant.<\/p>\n In truth, while appellations are said of the industry by the Ghana government and the \u201cbig guys\u201d, the Ghanaian oil and gas labour front is seeing traumatic developments six years down the line.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo key issues we have found as NGO to be worrying the labour front in the oil and gas sector are the never ending salary disparities between expatriates and locals, and the denial of workers in the industry from joining labour unions.\u201d Solomon Kusi Ampofo; Communications and Advocacy Coordinator at Friends of the Nation, a socio-economic advocacy NGO in the Western Region.<\/p>\n Policy flaws<\/strong><\/p>\n But a critical examination of why the oil front is experiencing these setbacks reveals flaws in the policy formulations leading up to oil production.<\/p>\n Consider this: Ghana had regulations for spending state funds before oil discovery in 2007.\u00a0However\u00a0when oil was discovered, the nature of the new resource called for the development and enactment of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act 815. Prior to that, a team of experts were flown to Norway to study \u201cbest practices\u201d that made their oil industry a blessing. That gave birth to the famous Heritage Fund and others.<\/p>\n Shockingly, Ghana was consumed at finding how to spend oil revenues\u00a0only than\u00a0who helps it get the revenues and their welfare. Seriously, why didn\u2019t Ghana inquire and implement how to handle labour issues in the industry since we were also new to it?<\/p>\n Again, the Ghana Revenue Authority has had series of capacity building support since the oil era. This too is geared at getting the money. On the labour front, there was the labour law. Why did we not amend portions of it to meet industry standards? Why\u00a0it is\u00a0that oil and gas workers in Ghana are treated just like my colleagues at the Regional Coordinating Council? Why will workers in the field be paid according to the minimum wage? If we had laws on public spending but yet we developed the PRMA, why couldn\u2019t we revise the labour laws for those in the oil and gas sector?<\/p>\n The resentment<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe have been left to our fate. Our people did absolutely nothing on labour issues when we discovered oil. Their focus was on money, revenues money! It was as if the oil industry is like any other industry. But, this is a\u00a0high risk\u00a0area with serious specific consequences when there is a mistake. All over the world,\u00a0oil\u00a0industry and its staff are treated exceptionally. But here in Ghana, it\u2019s anything else\u201d. [A local union member at Weatherford, December 2016]<\/p>\n \u201cOur local content law was simply quite on labour issues.\u00a0Local\u00a0content policy that only focused on companies is simply an incomplete document. What is local content when it does not talk about the people who work for these local companies? What is shocking is that, under the current circumstances, oilfield workers are treated like any ordinary profession. That Labour Act, 2003, Act 651 came into force 8th\u00a0October,\u00a02003, way before oil\u00a0was find. Does that sound OK to you?\u201d [A redundant employee of Baker Hughes, Andrew Agyiri. December 2016]<\/p>\n \u201cWe had to demonstrate on the FPSO before the world could hear us. That problem wasn\u2019t created by us. Leadership at the forefront of the oil industry failed from the beginning. Unfortunately, some of us had to pay for their inability. Today, I\u2019ve been sacked for standing up to our right. [Former employee of MODEC sacked for protesting salary disparities]<\/p>\n Yes! At the national level, the oil is a blessing. But a blessing on the sweats of persons who feel left to their fate.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo In the eyes of the operators of Jubilee oil field, it was a record time of development from discovery to first\u00a0oil in\u00a0December 15, 2010. To the government of Ghana, getting the Petroleum Revenue Management Act 815\u00a0in\u00a0March 2011, 3 months after first oil, \u201cwas good decision to guide how oil revenues were going to be spent\u201d. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":270647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[374],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nBut what is happening to PIAC? Yea! That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n
\n[walkerjazzy23@gmail.com]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"