Ghana: Oil Sector Workers Threaten Strike Action

OIL and Gas workers in the Republic of Ghana, West Africa, have issued two weeks’ ultimatum to the country’s Labour Commission to ensure speedy resolution of some compensation cases brought before it within the ultimatum timeline.

According to the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union (GTPCWU), which is the umbrella body of the oil and gas workers, failure of the Commission will compel them to activate all the industrial action process at their disposal.

The Union accused the Commission of dragging its feet on their demands for compensation for two former workers of ETG Ghana Limited, Francis Narh and Patrick Akpable, who were sacked unlawfully about three years ago.

In a resolution reached after the Union’s Regional Conference in Takoradi, they said the National Labour Commission has, for the last three years, failed to rule on the Union’s request for compensation for two of their members dismissed by ETG Ghana Limited.

Speaking to energynewsafrica.com in a telephone interview, Chairman of GTPCWU, Bernard Owusu said after the expiration of the two weeks’ ultimatum, the Union members would picket at ETG Ghana Limited and other businesses of the owner of the company including the Takoradi Mall.

He continued that after the few days of picketing, the Union would follow it with a declaration of a full-blown strike action saying, “All our members will withdraw their services in solidarity of the two dismissed colleagues.

Though it is refreshing that Ghana has, so far, realised about US$6 billion in revenue from the Petroleum Industry since 2011, the industry is, however, bedeviled with concerns of unfair remuneration and dismissals among the few Ghanaians employed.

Besides, the yet to be resolved compensation for the two helicopter crash survivors, the latest is the sacking of two workers of ETG Ghana, a subsidiary of Amarja, a Petroleum Industry Support service provider.”

He told energynewsafrica.com that the country’s upstream regulator, Petroleum Commission, is aware of the issues but has not done anything about it.

“For the Petroleum Commission, they are aware of all of these things. We don’t have confidence in them because of things that have happened in the past. You remember a few years ago, a helicopter had an accident and as we speak now, nothing has happened to those workers. So if you have a Commission like that in place, do we go back and tell them that these workers have been sacked? In the oil sector, what we are hearing is that our people are in the pocket of the multinationals so when you’re even talking, they don’t even care about it.

“What they understand is this radical measures; hitting the streets, going on strike. That is what they basically understand and we have been quiet for some time now but they should be ready that come some days ahead of us, we would be embarking on certain actions about things that have happened to our workers that have not been addressed. As the resolution said, in two weeks if we do not hear anything from the authorities, the National Union, with the region, would embark on certain industrial actions which would not be nice or pleasant.“

Source: www.energynewsafrica.com