The 27 MODEC workers who were sacked for embarking on a strike are to start work on Monday as management officially confirms their reinstatement.

This was after the workers signed an undertaking to maintain industrial harmony.

The workers were sacked on November 10 for partaking in a sit down strike on the FPSO vessel.

Even though they were recalled after the Petroleum Commission’s intervention, no official communication was issued to that effect.

But speaking with Joy Business, the Divisional Secretary for the workers, Eric Ofori said all is now set for the workers to return to work.

“We’ve signed an undertaking to commit ourselves – both parties – to undertake to work in industrial harmony so that our people will go back to offshore and start working.

“so as we speak all those administrative stuff have been completed and so that opens the way for us to commence negotiations and then make arrangements for our people go back off-shore.”

Eric Ofori said letters have been issued to all those workers who were sacked, “reversing the dismissing, reinstating them, and arrangements are being made for them to return offshore.

“They were supposed to go this week, but those who are supposed to leave the vessel for them to go have not left so they have been asked to stand-by. By Monday, they will start going offshore.”

Meanwhile, discussions are underway to address the Collective Bargaining Agreement of the workers and Mr. Ofori tells Joy Business, they are pretty optimistic.

“We are still talking, you know we are coming from an angle, management is also coming from an angle and we are trying to get to a common convergence so that we will understand each other. We have a whole salary and a Collective Bargaining Agreement to look at so we can say the salary disparity gap is closing if we take the whole CBA and everything holistically and then negotiate on it. But now we haven’t gotten anywhere where we can say the gap is closing or not.”