Ghanaian workers at ENI agitate over unequal pay

Ghanaian workers at ENI, an Italian oil and gas company operating in the country, are agitating over what they call unequal pay structure at the company.

The workers say their conditions of service are far below industry levels and want the discrepancies fixed.

The concerns by the workers, Citi Business News understands has been triggered by an industry survey on the conditions of service of workers at ENI by MEIR Global.

The survey largely pointed to the need for ENI to adjust its base salary.

This is because the company was found to have been paying its workers between 19.4 and 36.6 percent less for the same work done among its peers.

Again, the survey revealed that the median annual salary for a category one worker at ENI is GH¢47,760 compared to GH¢59,258 annually, for the industry.

Also, the median annual salary for a category 7 worker at ENI is GH¢201, 579 compared to GH¢317,950 for the industry.

The workers have equally petitioned the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum Commission for their intervention.

Ghana’s petroleum laws are particular about local content participation, the government, through its agencies like the Petroleum Commission, ensures that oil companies comply with this provision.

Again, the Petroleum Local Content and Local Participation Regulations 2013, (L.I 2204) makes it mandatory for all oil companies to incorporate local content either through personnel or sourcing of materials for production.