Description

In an open letter to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio made available to the Vanguard in Warri, Delta state, the support staff among others decried their alleged poor condition of service, calling for better review.The letter signed by Ighomitedo Dafe – Lead Support staff representative, Eserada Emmanuel- Support Staff Representative, Richard O. Okorodudu – Support Staff Representative,
Mrs. Alero Agoreyo – Support Staff Representative and titled: “Open letter to Senator Godswill Akpabio on planned protest to end the workplace slavery of support staff in WRPC support staff “, reads in parts:

“Your Excellency, We the Support Staff of Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (WRPCL), who were committed since 2022 to the Quick-Fix Project of the nation’s Warri Refinery, have been technically PROVOKED by NNPCL Top Management to go on a Planned Protest scheduled for Monday 19th August, 2024.This protest is being triggered by the refusal of NNPCL/WRPCL to approve and implement the
Support Staff Condition of Service/Improved Remuneration Package. and the recent NNPCL
Advertisement Seeking Experienced Hire of maximum 37 years of age – a scheme to edge off the support staff who have put in over 12 years in WRPC.

“Actually, the Support Staff of WRPCL have been in agitation for Improved Remuneration
Package, Condition of Service, as applicable to other Support Staff in NNPCL since 2015, which have
periodically ended with promises from WRPC Management.

“We were at a certain period demanding for conversion to Permanent Staff have served the company for over 10 years as casual workers. This same issue got to the Palaces of the Host communities (Ovie of Uvwie and the Olu of Warri) and then to the Federal House of Representatives in 2019/2020, where promises that were never met were reached. Rather, Support Staff in their large numbers were dropped and paid off before the Covid-19 saga. The remaining Support staff that were not laid off continued to receive peanuts called “salary”. The Support Staff then felt since Conversion to Permanent Staff seems difficult for management to handle, Improved Salary Structure/Condition of Service should be reasonably done by WRPC Management. Yet, nothing has been done over the years to alleviate our suffering!

“To make it very explicit Your Excellency, the Support Staff of the Refineries are the only Support Staff in NNPCL SBUs/CSUs that do not have Condition of Service/Remuneration Package that contains: Housing allowance, Transport allowance, Hazard allowance, Meal allowance, Medical allowance, Insurance coverage, Leave allowance, Pension, and the likes that is due to Support Staff and third party staff of all SBUs/CSUs of NNPCL.