TOR workers call for participation in Gold for Oil arrangement

The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) workers union has called on the government to include the refinery in the Gold for Oil programme.

They said participation in the arrangement would enable the Refinery to begin processing crude and petroleum products at a cheaper cost for Ghanaians.

The TOR Workers Union made the call during a meeting to deliberate on the current state of the Refinery.

The workers at the end of the meeting added that the plant had not been operational for some time due to the unavailability of crude.

The TOR Workers Union stressed that it was crucial that the government included TOR in the deal to allow the Refinery to restart operations.

The Union urged the government to ensure that TOR was operational to ensure the future of the workers and the refinery.

They disclosed that the union has not been able to successfully negotiate with the TOR Board of Directors on issues affecting the company for the past five years.

They said the Refinery was experiencing a brain drain of technically skilled workers due to the uncertainty.

The Union indicated that even though workers were due for the payment of their Provident Fund, which was deducted monthly from their salaries, it had not been paid for the past two years and there were also challenges in the payment of tier-two contributions.

They, therefore, called on the Management and the Board to fast-track the payment of the Provident Fund to workers who were due.

They said the situation had resulted in most of the workers not being able to pay for their wards' school fees, and rent, and cater for other family and personal needs.

According to the Union, a deal to revamp TOR which involved an investor in March 2022 was cancelled in November 2022.

Meanwhile, staff of TOR during the meeting pushed for a declaration of industrial action, including a demonstration, when necessary.

They said the inability of the government to revamp the Refinery was a worry to workers as well as petroleum product users.

The staff would present a petition to Management and the Board of the Refinery on the issues.