The management of the Agricultural Development Bank (adb) has dismissed reports of a sit-down strike by staff of the bank.
[contextly_sidebar id=”n9aIgkf34Jae91yjKXgmduqVhYKh8neU”]The reported strike was announced in a letter by the Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance Workers (UNICOF) who are unhappy about government’s refusal to remove the Managing Director, Stephen Kpordzih and dissolve the Board.
In a statement issued by its Communications and Public Affairs Unit, the bank assured its customers that it would be open for business today [Thursday], urging them to disregard reports of the strike action.
“Agricultural Development Bank Limited wishes to inform and assure its numerous cherished customers and the general public that the all its Branches and head office departments are operating and are opened for business and rendering all banking and customer services,” the statement said.
“Management’s attention has been drawn to stories in the media about a supposed illegal sit down strike by staff of our Bank being orchestrated by UNICOF. Management wishes to inform the general public the announcement is untrue.
“We hereby inform all cherished customers that the Bank is opened to business today and all its customers are encouraged to enter any of our over 78 branches to transact business,” the statement concluded.
Strike or no strike?
The letter issued by UNICOF was in response to the Government’s decision to retain the MD and Board of the Bank despite investigations into allegations of financial malfeasance and conflict of interest by the Bank of Ghana
The letter stated that as a result of the failure of the members of the board to step aside “for a proper examination of issues of gross incompetence and corruption raised by the joint unions and the failure of the appointing authorities to nominate external investigators to support the BoG to unravel the truth, we hereby declare a sit-down protest starting on the 28th of May 2015 till our shareholders do the needful.”
adb’s woes
The bank was scheduled to offload about 100 million shares representing 75 percent ownership to raise about GH¢300 million.
The workers however kicked against the IPO and demanded a detailed audit into the books of the bank.
President John Mahama on May Day subsequently announced that he had directed the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Haruna Iddrisu to resolve the impasse between adb workers and management.
However, the situation appears to have intensified with the staff seemingly unwilling to negotiate until their demands for the removal of the bank’s MD
However Citi Business News Norvan Acquah- Hayford who visited three of the bank’s branches in Accra including its Osu and Ringway branches reports that the workers are indeed embarking on a sit down strike.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana