Saying that Wednesday's meeting went "reasonably well," Kesar said they reached a settlement on all 16 safety issues which were in violation of the OSH Act. "The workmen's compensation issues, like those who were injured on the job, they have agreed to settle all outstanding compensation and make sure that they put things in place (to treat with such issues in the future)," he said. "With regard to industrial relations issues, such as wrong classification, and pay issues, such as short pay and workers who did not get pay, they have agreed to address that." Kesar said, however, they had not settled issues under the Minimum Wages Act such as paid sick leave, pay for work done on public holidays and overtime.
Petrotrin responds
Petrotrin's senior corporate communications officer Walcott David Coker said they were working with all parties involved to reach an amicable agreement. He said the workers were contracted by Kinetics Ltd, a foreign seismic firm, hired by Petrotrin to conduct the survey. Coker said some of the contentious issues raised by the workers were not part of the original agreement between them and the foreign firm.