[ 2016-08-25 ]

The Deputy Minister of Power, John Jinapor

Striking ECG workers to face sanctions if… – Gov’t
The Power Ministry has said it may be forced to
take punitive actions against workers of the
Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) if they do not
immediately abort their ongoing 3-hour daily
protest scheduled to end on Friday.

Yesterday [Wednesday], the ECG workers laid down
their tools in all district and regional offices
to protest government’s decision to hand over
management of the company to a private entity.

The Public Utilities Workers Union (PUWU) is at
the centre of this protest that has seen offices
shut down between 8am to 11am, and has called on
government to review the Millennium Challenge
Corporation (MCC) compact which seeks to cede the
ECG to private investors for a period of 25
years.

But in an interview with Citi News, Deputy
Minister for Power, John Jinapor, pressed the
workers to understand that some form of compromise
may be in order.

He explained that, “in negotiations, you do not
get all that you demand. When you come with your
demands, the other party also comes with its
demands.”

Mr. Jinapor did admit that some of the workers’
concerns were legitimate “because if you are
going for a concession, there is some level of
uncertainty so we must clarify all those issues;
employee security, job security so we are willing
a determined to engage further and clarify all
those issues and a host of other issues that thy
have raised.”

Nonetheless, he held that the workers could not
throw prudency out of the window and
“unilaterally declare a sit down strike. It is
not done.”

“We are nations governed by laws. The labour
laws ought to be respected and so if they continue
on that tangent, we shall make the appropriate
decision going forward,” the Deputy Power
Minster stated.

TUC backs protest

The Trades Union Congress (TUC), has thrown its
weight behind the protest indicating that dialogue
between the unions and government is yielding no
fruits.

The TUC Secretary General, Dr. Yaw Baah said,
“The workers are not doing this for their sake.
After all, we have got the promise from the
president that for the next 5 years, no worker is
going to lose his or her job but that is not going
to stop us because we are not fighting only for
ourselves. We are fighting for this country.”

Dr. Baah also bemoaned the lack of trust and
opportunities given PUWU by government saying,
“The union is saying they are not against the
MCC. The union is saying that let us change the
form and that they are ready to take the
challenge. Give them three years to turn round and
give them the same playing field. Why is that we
are not giving them that opportunity?”

Source - citifmonline.com

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