{"id":47892,"date":"2026-09-15T14:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T12:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=47892"},"modified":"2026-09-15T15:20:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T13:20:28","slug":"petition-oil-workers-challenge-directive-on-nsif-deductions-in-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/15\/petition-oil-workers-challenge-directive-on-nsif-deductions-in-court\/","title":{"rendered":"PETITION: Oil workers challenge directive on NSIF deductions in court"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Yiep Joseph<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Oil workers\u2019 unions have petitioned the Court of Appeal over a government directive requiring employers to deduct and remit social insurance contributions directly to the National Social Insurance Fund (NSIF).<\/p>\n

The petition was filed by unions representing employees at Dar Petroleum Operating Company, DPOC, Greater Pioneer Operating Company, GPOC, and Sud Petroleum Operating Company, SPOC.<\/p>\n

The unions challenged the implementation of Ministry of Labour Public Circular No. 5\/2026, which provides for the direct deduction and remittance of social insurance contributions by employers.<\/p>\n

The move brings the dispute before the judiciary after efforts by the workers\u2019 representatives to resolve their concerns through dialogue with the Ministry of Labour failed to produce a response.<\/p>\n

Reading the unions\u2019 statement, Gabriel John Gattour, Chairperson of the SSWTUPM GPOC Sub-Office, stressed that the workers\u2019 decision to go to court should not be interpreted as opposition.<\/p>\n

John said that they engaged the ministry in an effort to address what they consider concerns surrounding the implementation of the circular.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving exhausted these avenues, we are left with no reasonable alternative but to seek the intervention of the competent court to determine the legality and proper application of the matters arising from public circular 5\/2026,” he said.<\/p>\n

He added that lack of a response left them with no option but to seek judicial intervention.<\/p>\n

John said the unions recognise the importance of social protection and the establishment of a social insurance system.<\/p>\n

The central issue, according to the workers\u2019 representatives, is whether the implementation of the ministry\u2019s circular complies with the country\u2019s constitution, applicable laws, and established legal principles.<\/p>\n

The unions also want the court to consider how the directive affects the rights and interests of workers covered by the new arrangement.<\/p>\n

Their petition therefore seeks judicial scrutiny of the government\u2019s approach to collecting social insurance contributions and the obligations placed on employers and employees under the circular.<\/p>\n

The petition marks a significant step in the workers\u2019 efforts to challenge the implementation of the circular while maintaining that their position is aimed at ensuring that any social insurance system is implemented within the framework of the Constitution and the law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Yiep Joseph Oil workers\u2019 unions have petitioned the Court of Appeal over a government directive requiring employers to deduct and remit social insurance contributions directly to the National Social Insurance Fund (NSIF). The petition was filed by unions representing employees at Dar Petroleum Operating Company, DPOC, Greater Pioneer Operating[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":47893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,80,79,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","category-national","category-news","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Representatives-of-the-oil-workers-at-court-appeal-where-they-present-their-letter-By-Louis-Loku-.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47892"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47902,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47892\/revisions\/47902"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}