Forty Ghanaian technicians working on the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah, the biggest facility at the Jubilee oil fields at Cape Three Points have laid down their tools to protest poor working conditions.
Forty Ghanaian technicians working on the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah, the biggest facility at the Jubilee oil fields at Cape Three Points have laid down their tools to protest poor working conditions.
The technicians claim they are made to work in deplorable conditions compared to their expatriate colleagues.
Speaking to the press, the secretary of the local oil and gas workers union, Mr. Eric Ofori said the strike has been necessitated by a seeming lack of concern for the local workers who are made to perform the same tasks as their expatriate counterparts but under less desirable conditions.
“We work in the same environment with foreign workers, but we are not entitled to the same conditions of service albeit we are exposed to the same risk in the line of duty,” he lamented.
He explained that the Ghanaian technician receives an average salary of between GH¢2,500 and GH¢3,000 a month (approximately $1000), whilst their expatriate counterparts are paid about 800 per cent higher and in foreign currency.
“Foreigners who are not even up to our standards take an average of about $5,000 to $10,000 a month or after every 28-days rotation,” Mr. Ofori said.
The strike has reportedly not impacted production at this point but it is feared that a sustained action may affect the over 100,000- barrel per day (bopd) target.