Oil production at the Jubilee oil fields has come to a standstill as Ghanaian workers laid down their tools yesterday.
Their employer, Mitsui Ocean Development & Engineering Company (MODEC) Ghana Limited operates and maintains FPSO Kwame Nkrumah.
The workers are protesting poor working conditions as compared to their expatriate colleagues.
They complain they are paid between GHc2, 500 and GHc3, 000 whereas their expatriate colleagues are taking between $5,000 to $10,000.
They are maintaining that they will not return to work until something positive is heard from their employers.
The petroleum commission however states that oil production is still going on despite the strike.
In response to the issue, it stated that although it was disappointed by the actions of the workers as “strenuous efforts are already ongoing to improve their conditions in the upstream petroleum industry,” it would commence negotiations with them to find a quick solution to the impasse.
The Commission therefore implored the striking workers to return to their posts as the talks begin.
The government has also entreated the workers to go back to work.
Below is the full statement from the petroleum commission
STRIKE ACTION ON THE FPSO KWAME NKRUMAH
On Wednesday, October 29, a section of the Ghanaian staff of MODEC Ghana Ltd. who work on the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah and numbering about 25, embarked on a sit down strike, to back their demands for better conditions of service. It is with deep regret that on industrial action has taken place at this time when strenuous efforts are already ongoing to improve their conditions in the upstream petroleum industry.
The Petroleum Commission, since last year to date, has made a number of strategic interventions to improve the welfare and ensure equal opportunities for Ghanaian professionals for industrial harmony to prevail in the upstream petroleum industry.
Several discussions have been held with both Local and International Service Providers to improve the working conditions and enhance the capacity of Ghanaian workers,which have resulted in a long-term programme for employees’ career development.
As you would recall, following a similar strike on the Jack Ryan rig on Saturday, 9th August, 2014 over demands for upward adjustment of salary, the Petroleum Commission in concert with the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union (GTPCWU) quickly intervened to resolve the impasse and to continue the earlier initiatives to improve the workers compensation.
Again, when Modec workers embarked on a strike action on 24th July, 2014, the Commission facilitated discussions between Modec and the Union (i.e. GTPCWU), which resulted in initial salary increase and training opportunities for the Ghanaian staff of Modec.
Furthermore, as part of our mandate to promote Local Content and development of local capacities in the upstream industry, the Commission met key stakeholders in the industry on August 20th, 2014. Among the actions that were adopted at that meeting were the formation of three (3) Technical Committees to deal with pertinent issues with regard to the workers conditions and enterprise development in the upstream industry..
The Committees are:
- Compensation Package Committee – to address issues pertaining to compensation packages of Ghanaians working in the petroleum upstream industry and come out with a salary structure for various skill levels. .
- Training & Career Development Committee – to address the requisite training, career development programmes and capacity building.