Chevron employees demand profits, permanent jobs

The sacked and non-sacked workers of the US oil company Chevron Bangladesh have demanded the company's dividend share and job permanent.

They raised this demand from a press conference at Dhaka Reports Unity in the capital on Sunday.

Chevron Bangladesh operates Bibiyana, Moulvibazar and Jalalabad gas fields in the country.

In his written speech at the press conference, Musfaq Us Salehin Khan, a sacked employee of Chevron Bangladesh, said, "Most of the employees of Chevron Bangladesh have been working for 12 to 18 years. But their job is not permanent and they do not get the related service benefits.

He said, “Chevron came to Bangladesh in 2005. After three to six months of joining the job, the Chevron authorities gave us temporary employment papers. But till date we have not been given permanent appointment letter which is mandatory according to the Labuor Act. From 2015 to 2022, about 400 workers filed individual cases with the Labour Court to resolve the issue. The cases are still pending.”

“Chevron recently fired 130 employees violating the labour law. We were terminated by a contractor. Some local and foreign officials are behind our sufferings. They have made a syndicate which embezzled thousands of crores of taka hiring relatives as contractors,” he claimed.

The workers said that when they joined Chevron, there was no legal provision to hire workers through a contracting agency. But in 2015, Chevron Bangladesh made a provision for hiring workers through outsourcing, which only applies to government agencies.

Mentionable, US company Chevron Bangladesh Blocks Thirteen and Fourteen Limited operates the Jalalabad gas field in Sylhet, Moulvibazar and Bibiyana gas fields in Habiganj.

Besides, Petrobangla has recently given permission to Chevron for gas exploration in the appraisal areas of Bibiyana and Jalalabad gas fields. Chevron-operated Bibiyana gas field produces the country's highest daily output of 1,220 million cubic feet of gas which is more than half of the gas produced in the country.