A meeting between government and Organized Labour over recent utility hikes ended in deadlock on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) in December 2015, announced an increase in electricity and water tariffs by 59.2% and 67.2%<\/a><\/strong><\/span> respectively which are already\u00a0in effect.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”eAH2Kr6uvSL9z0qXF5GKIQWyKIrHRZjV”]Organised labor subsequently kicked against the move calling for a suspension until certain factors including reliability of power is assured.<\/p>\n PURC had earlier met with the TUC and Consumer Protection Agency over the matter.<\/p>\n Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress, Kofi Asamoah explained\u00a0on\u00a0Eyewitness News\u00a0<\/strong>that \u201corganized labour reiterated our position of asking for reduction in the prices of the utility levels that were announced recently. Government also tried to do some explanations as to why there was the need for the utility hikes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBeyond that, labour also took a position on the newly introduced energy sector levies. First of all we made it clear that they were undemocratically rushed through Parliament and there were no public consultations held and that it\u2019s going to worsen the plights of Ghanaians. Government tried to also justify why they needed such taxes raised,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Mr. Kofi Asamoah however added that the meeting \u201cdid not really conclusively agree on any principle except some specific issues that were raised and we are supposed to meet again,\u201d adding that \u201cwe are not happy about the outcome of the meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n The Tema District Council of Labour (TDCL) earlier gave the Trades Union Congress (TUC), a one week ultimatum to intervene in tariff hikes else face their wrath<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n Wilson Agana, Chairman of the TDCL told Citi News<\/strong> that they were awaiting authorization from their mother body, the TUC, before they wage war on the tariff hikes.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Kofi Asamoah noted that “we will try and employ anything that we can to ensure that it [tariff] is reduced\u2026you will hear from us when we find out that what we are asking for is not being met.”<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Godwin A. Allotey\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n