Okitipupa oil palm firm to recall sacked workers

Okitipupa Oil Palm Company Plc (OOPC) has said it is ready to re-absorb some of its sacked workers after a protracted strike lasting over three months.

The Guardian learnt that the industrial strike had adversely affected the ongoing repositioning efforts of the firm which was revived last year under a new management.
 
The workers, before their sack, deposited various charms and fetish objects at strategic locations at the premises of the firm to scare and prevent workers and the management staff from accessing the offices and the plantations.

However, the decision to re-absorb the workers was sequel to a plea from security agencies that participated in a recent Security Summit held in Okitipupa on ways to end illegal harvesting of the company’s products, growing insecurity threats to its operations, its facilities and personnel.

Similarly, the traditional rulers of the communities hosting the company’s 10 oil palm plantations said that disengaging the workers could further worsen the bad security situation in the host communities.
 
Chairman of OOPC Management Committee, Mr Wale Osomo, while speaking on the re-absorption process, added that the re-absorption would be enjoyed only by sacked workers who were ready to key into the new vision, values, ethics and operational policies of the repositioned company.

Present at the meeting were the security agencies, the management and some board members of OOPC, the sacked workers and some stakeholders from the communities hosting the plantations.