About 22 Ghanaian workers of Weatherford - an oil and gas company in Takoradi - have been locked out of their office premises. The workers for some time now have been calling for salary adjustments and other benefits but were hit by a lockout by their employers. The Western Regional Manager of the General Transport and Chemical Workers Union of the TUC named only as Sallah told Joy News that the local content policy of the country is not being adhered to. He alleged the behavior of the expatriates smacks of discrimination. Sallah told Joy FM’s regional correspondent the company sacked the HR Manager, Josephine K. Ewusi, while negotiations were ongoing for an improvement in the conditions of service of the workers. The workers, according to Kwake Owusu Peprah were demanding a 25 per cent increase in salary and 8.6 for inflation but the management of the company offered them 16 per cent and 4.3 respectively. The local workers who work on the oil rigs offshore were also demanding two days off-duty for every seven days they worked just as their expatriate counterparts enjoy but that has been rejected. They say they are discriminated against because there are two canteens – one for expatriate workers and one for local staff – a situation they deem despicable. The Chief Finance Officer of Weatherford, Alan Sehand, declined to comment when he was reached for his side of the story.