The 12 labour unions striking over the mangement of their tier two pension funds have called off their almost two-week old strike.
According to the agitated unions, some of their members have been served with an ex parte order to do so.
The court ruled in favour of government last Friday but the unions said they had not been served and would continue to strike.
[contextly_sidebar id=”qNlmlMLw5BOw27OrfBqonPpo11HjuFdE”]But at a press briefing on Tuesday, the Forum for Public Sector Registered Occupational Pension Schemes said they would comply with the court order.
“We are law abiding citizens and have decided to obey the court order from today. But we want to re-emphasize that the suspension of the strike does not mark the end of the struggle,” PRO of the Forum, Reynolds Ofosu Tenkorang insisted.
The Forum however stated that it “regrets government’s exercise of bad faith in obtaining an ex parte order on the Forum which was in the public domain and generating media speculations and malicious press statements but was not served on the unions and associations until about 5pm on Monday.”
The Forum noted that some of the unions have still not been served and they feel it is a deliberate attempt by government to divide their front.
Conditions
The unions said “if by one week from today, the dispute is not resolved, we shall resume the strike.”
They also hoped that government and other stakeholders will “work in good faith to find amicable solutions to this dispute so that our colleagues who will retire in 2015 and beyond will be reassured of a better future.”
Security of Pension Funds
Commenting on the issue of government being the guarantor of the pension funds, the Forum argued that Act 766 in the Pensions Act does not support government’s claims that it could be the guarantor.
The unions questioned government’s intention to secure the pensions of the four sectors and leave other workers like those from SSNIT, the Bank of Ghana, Universities, Labour Commission VRA, Ghanaian Times and many other public and quasi public sector workers.
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By: Nana Boakye-Yiadom/citifmonline.com/Ghana