Reinstate dismissed employees; Petroleum Union warns MODEC
The Ghana Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union (GTPCWU) has called on the management of MODEC Limited to reinstate the 29 employees they had dismissed.
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The dismissal followed a sit-down strike on October 29, 2014, by the employees of MODEC, which manages the production platform of the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah.
The Deputy General Secretary of GTPCWU, Mr Francis Salla, told the Daily Graphic that the dismissal of the workers was unlawful and a breach of the agreement reached by the parties.
He, therefore, demanded their immediate reinstatement or the company risked an action by the union to seek justice for the workers.
"We will not issue any ultimatum, but we want our members to be reinstated immediately without delay. We have received a call for a meeting with the Petroleum Commission and we are waiting for the outcome," he said.
Illegal strike
The affected staff members were last Monday handed their dismissal letters, with the explanation that they went on an illegal strike on board the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah which placed the facility at a major risk, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars to the company.
The dismissed workers were also given medical forms to report to the company's health facility for a medical check up within 10 working days or the company would not be liable for their health conditions thereafter.
The letter to the workers, signed by the In-country Manager of MODEC, indicated that the company had considered all factors and was unable to employ the services of the 29 workers any longer.
“You are, therefore, dismissed without notice, in line with Section 30(3) of Act 651, from your employment, effective Monday, November 10, 2014,” it said.
Protests
However, according to the workers, the dismissal was contrary to the agreement reached which promised the affected workers that they would not be sacked.
“Therefore, we expect that our employers will respect the agreement reached and wait for the outcome of the deliberation before sacking anybody,” some of the workers said.