Retrenched GNPC Workers Cry Foul Over Disbursement Package

THE PROJECT and contract workers of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) whose appointments have been terminated by the government following the suspension of the corporation's operations have kicked against their severance package which they consider inadequate.

Describing the decision as a fiat which must be overruled by the government, the ex-workers, numbering 141, told the Chronicle in Takoradi last Thursday that the whole negotiation on the package itself was a hoax because it was done without the representation of Takoradi and Aiyinase local workers union.

According to the ex-workers, who stormed the Chronicle regional office to register their protest against the decision following the suspension of the corporation's activities by the government, the tripartite committee which included the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the Ministry of Manpower Development and Employment and their union met to decide the severance package to be given to each worker.

As they explained, though the collective bargaining agreement they signed with management of GNPC clearly states that in the event of redundancy, each worker must be paid two months basic salary multiplied by the number of years served, the tripartite committee which included some top management officials who were also affected discarded the agreement when they realised that it would not favour them.

They instead manoeuvred and came to conclusion that each permanent staff who is affected by the redundancy must be paid four months basic pay multiplied by the number of years served in addition to 25% salary revision.

The workers expressed regret that when it came to their turn (contract and project workers), some of whom had worked for 15 years, they were discriminated against.

According to them, though they have protested against the clear discrimination, the TUC and the Ministry of Employment who are supposed to think about the welfare of workers, remain silent.

The workers contended that though the word 'contract' is being used to discriminate against them, they were never paid as contract workers.

They were receiving basic salary like any other worker and also paying their TUC dues throughout the years they have been with the corporation.

They further told Chronicle that their own investigations had revealed that it was the junior, permanent staff of the corporation, who reportedly signed a resolution and copied to the government that the so-called project and contract workers are prepared to accept whatever package that would be offered them when as a matter of fact they had not said so anywhere.

According to them, should the present package be allowed to stand, it would mean that even an ordinary messenger who is classified as a permanent staff would earn five times more than what an electrical engineer classified as contract worker would earn.

In the oil field, the contract worker is a specialised hard in the helm of affairs, toiling to strike oil at its extended period of 12 hours daily and sometimes beyond.

It is only the contract worker who has the special skill to sample out chemicals and materials used in any drilling operations offshore or on shore, they said.

According to them, it is only at GNPC that the terms "permanent" and "contract" are used out of context to mean exploitation of man by his fellow man, adding that the very people who collapsed the administrative machinery of the corporation under Tsatsu Tsikata are still at post parading the corridors of power as angels.

The workers have, meanwhile, appealed to President Kufuor to intervene on their behalf for a fair deal to prevail before a section of the greedy people again thwart the effort of the President in the quest to strike oil in deep seas of the country's territorial waters.

"We want the positive change to reflect in the pockets of GNPC contract workers," they added.