Between resignation and temporary contract.. Rmelan field workers fear losing their years of service

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The Rmelan oil field witnessed a protest carried out by a number of workers, expressing their rejection of their demands to submit their resignations from the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC), in exchange for signing temporary work contracts with the American company (HKN) for a period of six months, in a move that raised their fears of losing their job rights and losing their previous years of service.

The protesters stressed that their refusal is not related to simply changing the employer or the nature of the contracts, but rather to the repercussions that this measure may have on their career and living future, stressing the need to preserve their acquired rights, ensure the continuity of their service, and not hold them responsible for the consequences of administrative and contractual changes.

The workers pointed out that they continued to perform their duties and maintain the continuity of production in the field despite the difficult conditions they went through, and the accompanying shortage of equipment and occupational safety measures, considering that the years of work and efforts they made require fairness and appreciation, and not putting them before the option of resigning and moving to temporary contracts that do not provide, according to their concerns, sufficient guarantees in the long term.

The protesters’ most prominent demands are to preserve job seniority, ensure uninterrupted years of service, and protect financial and administrative dues and rights, in addition to finding a clear contractual formula that preserves the interests of workers and ensures their job stability under the new arrangements.

This stance brings back to the forefront the issue of workers’ rights in productive sectors when management or operations shift between companies, and the necessity of providing legal and professional guarantees that such shifts prevent employees from being burdened with decisions they were not involved in.

Between the requirements for contractual change and workers’ right to job stability, the basic demand remains clear: years of service are not just numbers in work records, but rights, efforts and sacrifices that should not be lost by signing a new contract or submitting a resignation.