The national staff of the Dar Petroleum Operating Company (DPOC) have gone on strike over unpaid salaries.
On Wednesday, the staff petitioned the company’s management and the ministry of petroleum. They expressed concerns about the lack of compliance by the oil firm with the Unified Human Resource Policy Manual (UHRM) it signed with the ministry of petroleum last year.
In the letter, they said the strike would begin on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, end on Monday, April 11, 2022, and resume on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, if nothing concrete had been done to satisfy their concerns.
They said the Dar Petroleum Operating Company had defied several ministerial orders issued by the ministry of petroleum, the council of ministers, and agreements signed between oil firms and the ministry of petroleum as the government agency responsible for oil exploration in the country.
According to the UHRPM drafted by the ministry of petroleum in 2020, the employees also claimed that the company did not pay their salary for at least 10 months, but did not specify which month, and that they were forced by the company to take what they described as unfavourable loans instead of their salary.
The DPOC management was also accused by the national employees of a lack of promotions, training, and capacity building, as well as an outright blockade of national workers.
‘‘Since foreign partners have usurped MOP’s supervisory and regulatory role through their secondees in DPOC, which has emboldened them to disregard and disrespect directives, policies, regulations, and laws of the Republic of South Sudan with impunity, and as it was resolved in two General Assembly meetings held on April 1 and April 3, 2022, respectively, in DPOC headquarters and DPOC OBC, respectively,’’ the statement of Dar National Staff (DNS) read in part.
“The DNS decided to embark on peaceful and intermittent strikes till the realisation of full and immediate implementation of UHRPM-2020 as per Council of Ministers resolution and ministerial orders and directives,” DNS noted in the statement.
“We trust the above clarifies DNS’s positions on the above matters.” Meanwhile, DNS reserves all their rights under international labour law, South Sudan labour law, petroleum Act-2012, EPSA’s, AT and applicable laws, “DNS asserted.
Ministers of petroleum, Presidential Affairs, Labour, Cabinet Affairs, Justice, and Constitutional Affairs, the undersecretary of ministry of petroleum, the Director-General of the Internal Security Bureau, the National Revenue Authority, and DPOC management are all copied on the letter.
In response to the National Staff of DPOC’s letter, Dr William Anyak Deng, Director General of the South Sudan Petroleum Authority in the Ministry of Petroleum, said in a letter to DPOC’s top management that the ministry is working with foreign partners to implement the UHRPM-2020.
However, he requested the DPOC National Staff to halt their strike over the Unified Human Resource Policy Manual 2020 and return to their regular work.
According to the statement of the director general dated April 6, 2022, the ministry of petroleum has urged all DPOC National Staff (DNS) to continue with their duty as the ministry of petroleum engages foreign partners to fully implement the UHRPM-2020.
In February 2021, the ministry of petroleum signed the Unified Human Resource Policy document with oil businesses to standardize compensation structures for both South Sudanese locals and foreign oil company employees executing the same work of competence.
After back-and-forth discussions with foreign partners and the ministry, the policy document was released on December 21, 2020.
This came after the DPOC national staff went on strike in protest over unpaid benefits as well as the failure to execute the new human resource policy document, which contains a new salary structure, allowances, loans, a social insurance fund, and personal income tax.