TOR staff deny salary delay claim

Workers at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), the only state oil refinery, have denied media reports that they are frustrated by the delay in payment of their salaries and allowances.

A statement jointly signed by John Elton Botchway, Chairman, General Transport Petroleum & Chemical Workers Union (GTPCWU) of TOR; and Kirk Kofi Asante, Chairman, Union of Industry Commerce & Finance Workers (UNICOF), said: “We the workers of Tema Oil Refinery have noted with utmost disapproval a front page story written by one Atta Kwaku Boadi of the TODAY newspaper and carried in the Monday, 18 June 2018 edition of the newspaper under the heading: ‘TOR in Tatters – Workers cry over delayed salaries and allowances’. ”

“As Union Executives and representatives of workers at Tema Oil Refinery, we would like to state emphatically clear that there is no jot of truth in the story and that the said piece smacks of a reprehensible propaganda meant to tarnish the reputation of the company and also to distract management and workers from continuing with the hard work done so far.”

The statement added: “Again, the assertion in the story that workers of TOR are paid by the government exposes the sheer ignorance by the reporter who refused to abide by the ethics of journalism by not contacting any union or management member for our side of the story. TOR workers are paid by our own internally generated funds and not from the consolidated funds.

“Most importantly, we would like to state that management has been fulfilling its mandate of paying all salaries and arrears to workers since the Isaac Osei-led administration took charge of affairs of the refinery, and on time too.

“On the issue of foreign trainings, we would like to place on record that no training meant for a staff member has been circumvented and given to a Board member as wrongly purported by the story.

“We the workers of TOR are therefore alarmed, disappointed and bewildered as to how a newspaper could peddle such falsehood about a company like Tema Oil Refinery.

“Currently as we speak, all we need now as workers of TOR is the continuous supply of crude oil for us to be able to refine. It is also instructive to note that there is maximum cooperation between management, the Board members and workers here at Tema Oil Refinery and we have no indication that the Board Chairman has been meddling in the affairs of management when it comes to the day to day running of the company.”