Digital MAY 28, 2020

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CONTENT
ANNIVERSARIES
Good Friday — Fri, 10 Apr 2020
Easter Monday — Mon, 13 Apr 2020
Labour Day — Fri, 1 May 2020
DAILY HERITAGE THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2020
Published by: EIB
Network / Heritage
Communications Ltd.
Managing Editor:
William Asiedu:
0208156974
Acting Editor:
Kweku Gyasi Essel:
0244744973
ISSN: 0855-52307
VOL 7
Location: Meridian
House (Starr FM) Ring
Road. Box AD 676,
Adabraka, Accra,Ghana.
Telephone: +233-0302-
236051, 020-8156974
026-5653335
Adverts/Mktg:
Paul Ampong-Mensah
024-4360782
Fax: +233-0302-237156
Email:
news@dailyheritagegh.com.gh
heritagenewspaper@yahoo.co.uk
www.dailyheritage.com.gh
TUC fights Trade Fair
over ‘illegal’ mass lay-off
BY IBRAHIM ALHASSAN
LEADERSHIP OF
the Public Services
Workers’ Union
(PSWU) of the
Trades Union Congress
(TUC) has
locked horns with the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) for the
Ghana Trade Fair Company
(GTFC), Dr Agnes Adu, over
what the Union terms “unconventional
mass termination of appointments
of some 23 staff
members of the company.
The workers have been laid
off, “terminated”, supposedly as a
result of the Ghana Trade Fair
Company redevelopment project.
In a termination letter, whose
copy is in the possession of Starr
News, the affected will be paid
only one month salary in lieu of
notice.
“This letter is to inform you
that your employment with GTFC
LTD as …… Department will
come to an end as of 31st May,
2020. The company would pay
you your salary for the month of
April 2020 and pay you one (1)
month’s salary in lieu of notice,”
the letter signed by Dr Adu said.
In a letter to management of
the Ghana Trade Fair Company,
General Secretary of the Public
Services Workers’ Union, Bernard
Adjei, accused the company of
sidelining the Union in the exercise,
which, he argues, is nothing
but a redundancy exercise.
“Unfortunately, management
has not officially informed the
PSWU of any challenge that may
warrant such an action, neither
has management consulted or
called for any Standing Negotiating
Committee meeting to address
the issues concerning termination
as per existing Collective Bargaining
Agreement and the Labour
Act, 2003 (Act 651). We believe
management has undertaken a redundancy
exercise without going
through the necessary processes
and failed to pay workers the required
benefits,” the letter said.
The Union, in the letter, demanded
a meeting with management
of the GTFC, which request
is yet to be granted by the management.
The PSWU, in a letter to the
TUC, described as shocking the
mass lay-off at the Trade Fair
Company. In the letter addressed
to the Secretary-General of TUC,
Dr. Yaw Baah, the General Secretary
for the PSWU stated that the
action by management of the
trade Fair Company (a whollyowned
state company) could embolden
private employers to arbitrarily
also lay off workers in this
period of Covid-19 crisis.
“We are clear in our minds that
the action taken by management
is due to the redevelopment of
the Trade Fair, which amounts to
redundancy. Our prevailing Collective
Bargaining Agreement has
adequate provisions covering redundancy
as per the Labour Act,
2003 (Act 651). However, it is obvious
that management is trying
to avoid the full implication of redundancy.”
“If the state does not handle
the matter well, it may suggest to
private employers that they
can equally terminate appointment
of employees, especially
during this pandemic,” the letter
added.
The TUC has consequently petitioned
the Ministers for Trade
and Industry, and Employment
and Labour Relations to intervene
in the matter. The Minister for
Employment and Labour Relations,
Ignatius Barfour Awuah,
has demanded answers from management
of the Trade Fair Company.
In response to the letter from
the minister, CEO for the GTFC
defended the dismissal of the
workers, arguing it was based on
clauses in their contracts. Dr. Adu
denied the exercise was as a result
of the Trade Fair Redevelopment
Project.
Mr Barfour Awuah has since
tasked the Chief Labour Officer
of the Labour Department to
prepare a report on the matter to
guide his next line of action.
The PSWU (made up of over
60 public sector institutions) has
hinted of series of massive
protests to draw the government’s
attention to the insensitive activities
of the Board and Management
of the Trade Fair Company
in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.