‘Merger must not hurt staff, contractor right’

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KUWAIT CITY, May 11: The Kuwait Oil Company and the Kuwait National Petroleum Company are working diligently on the issue of the merger of Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC) and the Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC), and move forward to the second phase of the merger and restructuring, amid some reservations about the mechanism to be adopted in this area and the possible consequences and effects it may have on the employees or the relationship with certain contractors, reports Al-Rai daily.

The daily quoting high-ranking officials pointed out that the teams in each company, whether related to the merger of KGOC or KIPIC have completed the report in this direction. The officials stated that despite the controversy surrounding the effects of restructuring on the oil sector and its potential impact on many relevant stakeholders, including some positions and job titles of workers, opportunities for promotion and the possibility of termination of contracts of some contractors, there are institutional directives to complete studies to ensure that workers’ rights are not affected before any decision is taken.

On the other hand, the sources indicated that the expected challenges include the filing of compensation claims by some contractors in the event of the termination of their contracts, including the KOC contracts that have similar with other contractors in KGOC and in the case of merger and restructuring, this may lead to the termination of contracts of some of these contractors and may affect each other, despite the company’s legal rights to terminate these contracts.

The sources say the CEO of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Sheikh Nawaf Saud Al-Sabah has stressed on the importance of protecting the rights of workers, especially that the next stage requires concerted and unified efforts to confront global challenges in the oil industry. The sources added Al-Saud’s directives are clear about the necessity of reviewing all files before moving to the implementation stages, especially the vital files, and reviewing them in an accurate and realistic manner while studying current and future variables and their effects on workers, functional structures and all parties before proceeding with the merger.

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