O&G recruitment agency confirms foreigners being paid more than Guyanese

Sep 16, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – At least 30 to 40 Guyanese workers that equates to 75 percent of the local workforce attached to the Saipem fabrication yard, are expected to be out of a job by month end as work at that facility is expected to slow down.

Director of the joint venture agency, Trinidad Offshore Fabricators Unlimited (TOFCO) and Guyana Oil and Gas Support Services (GOGSSI), Nicholas Boyer, confirmed the information yesterday as workers attached to the oil and gas agency panicked over no income ahead of the upcoming holiday season. Boyer told the newspaper that projects at the Saipem yard are expected to slow down from the end of this month and the current number of workers at the facility will not be needed. He said as the projects ramp down from the end of October, some persons will be home for November and December, but work “…should start back in January or February,” of the following year.

Boyer said that while the recruitment agency hires the local workers, nothing could be done at this point if neither the yard nor his company has any work. “There is nothing we could do about it because the only way to get more work is to have more local content and more things done in country.”

Highlighting the challenges faced Boyer added, “if we had more to build in country, then I can keep the guys however if the sub-contractor I work for don’t have work in the yard, and if I don’t have work, I don’t have the cash to pay the guys. The crux of the issue is that we need more to be done in the country so that we have a bigger work volume and that when a project is completed and there is no more work, the staff cannot be kept.”

Boyer also confirmed a ‘disparity’ in the pay local workers earn in comparison to their foreign counterparts. He said “…indeed there is a disparity in pay right now. That is the fair criticism our guys have.” The workers have been arguing that foreign workers are paid more than Guyanese to do the same work in the yard. They alleged that even the workers stipends are sometimes bigger than local salaries, and that Trinidadian workers are heading back to a job when they return home. To that Boyer said Trinidadians are tied to contracts just like Guyanese and if there is no work in their yard in Trinidad, those workers too would have to stay home until a project comes on stream.

Boyer is optimistic however that within less than two years, especially with the Vreed-en-Hoop shore base project, of which his company is a part of comes on stream, more activities will take place in country allowing for more work for Guyanese. He said that while work expects to increase in the future it is a ‘painful’ time during the low activity.

Understanding the hardship of working on intervals, Boyer suggested a workers program during the low season. “If we could get training programs done to further train or up skill the workers, you could at least get them something to do within the low activity period.” He said these persons could be paid a small stipend. Personally, Boyer said, his company does not have the money to do such, but suggested that the Government or the oil companies could look into it. “I would need help from the oil companies to fund training during the low activity period…and even Government,” he said.

President of the National Mines Workers Union of Guyana (NMWUG), Sherwin Downer, and a number of workers are expected to meet with the Chief Labour Officer at the Ministry of Labour next week. The two sides have confirmed a date and they are expected to address a number burning issues. Kaieteur News was told that the recruitment company hires the workers but they get their instructions from the yard. The newspaper understands too that the sub-contractor also fires the staff and give instructions since they are the owners of the work to be done.