The twelve striking labour unions have hinted of a nationwide demonstration to protest government’s handling of their strike.<\/p>\n
The unions embarked on nationwide strike<\/strong><\/span><\/a> on October 22 to protest the government\u2019s failure to pay public sector workers their tier two pension funds into a private trustee account.<\/p>\n Speaking to Citi News\u00a0<\/strong>the General Secretary of the Ghana Registered Nurses Association, one of the striking unions, Perpetual Ofori Ampofo said they are disappointed with the government’s failure to meet their demands and are considering taking to the streets to make their point.<\/p>\n “Yes we are considering [going on a demonstration]. On this second tier pension issue we are going to fight and fight to the latter to ensure that government yields to our demands,” she insisted.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”RAJ7YJTNjZIALxA3v38hbluxvPDI6cC7″]The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Haruna Iddrisu announced that the government was seeking an interpretation from the court<\/strong><\/span><\/a> “on aspects of provisions of the Pensions Act and some clarifications on the second tier pension scheme and the role of employer and employee in the management of the fund.\u201d<\/p>\n He also revealed that a complaint had been filed at the National Labour Commission (NLC) against the 12 unions but the complaint has since been withdrawn<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n But Madam Ampofo, said they are unfazed by government’s decision to pursue legal action against them stating that they are not “shaken by the writ at all. We have the capacity to move on with any court proceedings. We have our legal counsel and we are not afraid.”<\/p>\n She added that they had the full support of their members saying: “They believe in us and that is why they voted us into various leadership positions and therefore they have entrusted us to seek their welfare.”<\/p>\n A separate strike<\/strong><\/span><\/a> has been announced by three teacher unions in the country\u00a0to protest the non-payment of their transfer grants and vehicle maintenance allowances.<\/p>\n The current labour unrest has led to the closure of several schools<\/strong><\/span><\/a> across the country.<\/p>\n The NLC has, however,\u00a0directed the three striking teacher unions to call off their two-day old strike<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0and return to the classroom.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Edwin Kwakofi\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n