Mineworkers Union To Picket At Sunon Asogli Today
The National Executive Council of the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) have scheduled today, Tuesday, May 9, to picket at the premises of Sunon Asogli Power Ghana at Kpone in the Tema Industrial enclave of the Greater Accra region.
The exercise is to demand the reinstatement of the three dismissed local union leaders of Sunon Asogli Power Ghana for deciding to join a trade union and volunteering to lead fellow workers at the enterprise level.
Mr Abdul-Moomin Ghana, the General Secretary of the Union, said at a resolution in Accra, that the Union would work with all Organized Labour Groups in Ghana and abroad to demand the reinstatement of the three dismissed local union leaders.
He said the Union had organized a press statement on March 3, 2023, and highlighted the blatant violations of the fundamental rights of workers, acts of interference, unfair labour practices, and disrespect for regulatory institutions by the management of Sunon Asogli Power Ghana Limited, leading to the unfair termination of three local union leaders, and demanded their reinstatement.
He stated that stakeholder meetings and interventions by state actors, including, the Ministries for Energy, Employment and Labour Relations, Foreign Affairs, the National Labour Commission, the Labour Department, and His Royal Majesty, Togbe Afede IV, on the issue could not yield any positive outcome.
He said the leadership of the TUC Ghana on March 27, 2023, in solidarity with unionized workers of Sunon Asogli Power Ghana Limited, whose rights were being abused by management of the company, demanded the reinstatement of the three dismissed local union leaders, but their demands were rejected.
Mr Ghana said several calls to the management of Sunon Asogli Power Ghana to refrain from any acts of intimidation, fear, and panic being unleashed on its members in the company had not yielded any fruitful response.
He stated that the Union was convinced that, the termination of the appointments of the three local union leaders, namely the Chairperson, Secretary and Assistant Secretary was unfair and an injustice.
It could be recalled that, over 68 workers of the company took the decision to join the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union in February 2021.
The Union and the workers went through the necessary legal processes to acquire a Collective Bargaining Certificate that empowered the Union to represent and negotiate with the company on behalf of the workers.
The situation led to misunderstanding and ended at the National Labour Commission, and the Commission on two occasions directed and ruled that the names of the workers did not arise at this stage and that the certificate was properly and legally acquired, so the company should comply and enter negotiations with the Union.