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Petroleum Sector Workers demands implementation of local content law

kencitymediagh
Mar 10, 2016
3 min read

Members of the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union of TUC (Ghana) have asked Government to put pressure on Multinational Companies operating in the Oil and Gas Sector for them to implement the beautifully crafted Local Content and Local Participation Law.

This according to them will ensure decent work and equity for workers in the oil and gas sector.

They accused the multinational companies in the oil and gas sector for cheating Ghanaians workers and also disregarding laws regulating the industry.

“Ghanaian labour is highly disregarded by these Multinational Companies to the extent that local employees are blatantly cheated in terms of remunerations and other conditions of service as compared to expatriates who do the same job, same qualifications with same experience,” the GTPCWU said this in a resolution issued at the end of its National Delegates Conference.

Below is the full statement

The General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union of TUC (Ghana) held its 10th Quadrennial National Delegates Conference at Windy Lodge Annex, Winneba, Central Region from 2nd – 4th March 2016 under the theme “Promoting and Sustaining Decent Work in the Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Sectors: The Role of the Union”.Members of the Union came from all the Regions of Ghana and met at Winneba to take stock of the Union’s activities during the past quadrennial and also to plan for the next quadrennial.

During the Conference in session, members came out with the followingResolutions for the attention of all stakeholders:

The Government and other related stakeholders should ensure that the beautifully crafted Local Content and Local Participation Law should be made functional to ensure decent work and equity for workers in the oil and gas sector.

The Government of Ghana should ensure to bring the Multinational Companies operating in the Oil and Gas Sector to order in their operations as they tend to disregard our labour laws which are intended to check the conduct of their operations. Ghanaian labour is highly disregarded by these Multinational Companies to the extent that local employees are blatantly cheated in terms of remunerations and other conditions of service as compared to expatriates who do the same job, same qualifications with same experience.
The Conference in session called on the Secretary General of TUC (Ghana) and Organized Labour in general to rise up immediately to assist the leadership of GTPCWU of TUC (Ghana) in confronting these powerful Multinational Companies operating in the Oil and Gas Sector to put a halt to their excesses and disregard for labour in this country.

Members commended the Government of Ghana for bringing Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) back to operations after a long period of being dormant in their operations. The current Managing Director, Honorable Kwame Awuah Darko was highly commended by members and encouragedto work harder to further improve and sustain the current achievements in those two organizations.

The Conference in session after careful deliberations condemned the high rate of carnage on our roads which continue to destroy the lives and property of our people. In this regard, the recent road accident involving a Metro Mass Transit (MMT) bus and a cargo truck on the Kintampo highway where over 63 passengers lost their lives readily comes to mind. Members were saddened by this event and expressed their condolences to the bereaved families of those who lost their lives wishing those who sustained various degrees of injuries speedy recovery. However, the Conference in session appealed to the Management of MMT to ensure that proper investigations are conducted to unravel the cause of the accident to enable any future occurrences be nibbed in the bud.

Members bemoaned the very poor salaries and general conditions of service for workers in the transport sector particularly the public sector transport workers and appealed to government to support and recapitalize these public sector organizations i.e. Intercity STC Coaches Limited and Metro Mass Transit Limited.

The 10th Quadrennial National Delegates Conferenceended with the election of the followingNational Officers who would handle the affairs of the Union for the next four years.

Name Position

1. Brother Bernard Owusu National Chairman

2. Brother Samuel Boateng 1st National Vice Chairman

3. Sister Lydia Asante 2nd Nat. Vice Chairperson

4. Brother Fuseini Iddrisu General Secretary

5. Brother Francis Sallah Deputy General Secretary

5. Brother Benedict Boakye Agyemang 1st National Trustee

6. Brother Frank Ninson 2nd National Trustee

Women Conference which preceded the main conference also elected a National Women Executive to serve for the next four years.

SIGNED

Fuseini Iddrisu

General Secretary