Despite several excuses by the Management of MODEC Ghana Limited, the company mandated to operate and maintain the Kwame Nkrumah FPSO to back their redundancy exercise targeted at Ghanaian nationals only, the New Crusading GUIDE has intercepted some documents which reveals how the company flouted laws meant to protect the interest of Ghanaian workers, purposely to execute the exercise.
The PNDC Laws on Petroleum, 1984, particularly on part III of the rights and obligations on contractors and sub-contractors , sub-section 10 of the act reads that “a contractor or a sub-contractor, in accordance with the regulations and the terms of petroleum agreement or petroleum sub-contract, as the case may be, ensure that opportunities are given as far as is possible for the employment of Ghanaians having the requisite expertise or qualifications in the various levels of the operations.”
Sub-section 11 also reiterates that a contractor or sub-contractor shall not engage in discriminatory practices on grounds of race, nationality or sex in the conditions of service provided for personnel.
To set the records straight, sub-section 12 also further compels contractors and sub-contractors to “as far as is practicable in accordance with the regulations and the petroleum agreement, use goods and services produced or provided in Ghana for its operations in preference to foreign goods and services”.
Another part of the ACT, which gives qualified Ghanaians the right to be given consideration with respect to employment, has been abandoned and workers who were dismissed for embarking on a peaceful protest against salary disparities and other poor conditions, despite orders from the Energy and Labour Ministers, Hon. Kofi Buah, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to be reinstated, have rather been replaced with foreign workers, the New Crusading GUIDE gathered.
While the Labour ACT 2003, Part IX, on Protection and Remuneration, further explains the rights of the workers to receive equal pay for equal work without distinction, the case of MODEC workers was different, as Ghanaian workers received between GH¢2500 -3000, whilst their colleague expatriates received between 5000- 10,000 dollars, although they have the same grade, position and job description, hence the demonstration.
Mr. Samuel Quarshie, National Chairman of the Union, in an interview with this reporter indicated that “since MODEC has gone ahead to employ foreigners to replace the highly skilled technical local workers, a move to ground Divisional Union and render it ineffective, the GTPCWU of TUC will not sit down to look on for the Company to carry out the intended Redundancy Exercise”.
According to him, the Union had all documentation which exposed the Company's diabolic intentions towards the Locals and economically whichs “shows that Tullow Oil who is behind these illegal actions of MODEC Gh. Ltd has no excuse to dismiss Ghanaian workers under the pretence of Low Oil Prices yet can afford huge foreign nationals labour cost instead”.
He revealed that in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU signed between the Management of MODEC and the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), “it was well noted that the workers, despite their agitations over salary disparities, would still remain employees of MODEC and continue to enjoy all existing conditions of service”.
<<Print>>