The Trades Union Congress (TUC) of Ghana has given power producer Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Ltd up to April 3, 2024 to reinstate three of its staff who were dismissed unlawfully or blame themselves for any actions that the TUC and Ghana Mineworkers Union (GMWU) will take.
They are also asking the management of the company to stop intimidating and abusing the rights of unionized workers there or face the wrath of the TUC and GMWU.
The ultimatum and warning were issued by TUC Secretary-General, Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah at a press conference in Accra.
This was occasioned by the recent wrongful termination of the employment of three workers by Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Ltd. The three a local union leaders.
After the termination of the three, the rest of the unionized workers are allegedly being subjected to various acts of intimidation, victimization and abuse by their Chinese bosses and their Ghanaian collaborators.
This has prompted the attention of the TUC which has strongly cautioned the Management of the company to refrain from any further acts of intimidation and abuse towards unionized workers.
“We are serving notice and notice is hereby served that if by April 3, 2023, the three local union leaders who have been dismissed are not reinstated and the various acts of intimidation and victimization by Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Ltd have not ceased, the Trades Union Congress (Ghana) and all its affiliate unions shall have no other option but to advise themselves,” Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah stated.
He also called on the National Labour Commission, Ministers of Employment & Labour Relations, of Energy, of National Security and of Finance to take keen interest in this matter because, “if our demands are not met, we are going to act decisively in accordance with TUC’s fundamental principle that INJUSTICE TO A WORKER ANY WHERE IN GHANA IS INJUSTICE TO ALL GHANAIAN WORKERS EVERYWHERE and the collective actions we will take can have serious consequences for the effective functioning of the entire economy of Ghana.”
The TUC boss noted that the abuse at Sunon Asogli Power has significant implications for the exercise of constitutional rights as Ghanaians and the vision to get all working people in Ghana to join the trade union movement to protect their social and economic interests.
Nearly 70 workers at that company joined the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMWU) of TUC in February 2021, and GMWU went through all necessary legal processes to acquire a Collective Bargaining Certificate to represent and negotiate with the company on behalf of the unionized workers.
However, the company’s lawyers, Fugah and Company, demanded to know the names of the unionized workers as a condition for recognition of the certificate, which was duly issued by the Chief Labour Officer.
The issue went to the National Labour Commission (NLC), and the Commission directed and ruled twice that the list of the workers’ names was not relevant and that the certificate was legally issued to GMWU. Despite this, the company’s management and lawyers disregarded the Commission’s decisions and have since refused to respond to any correspondence from GMWU.
Due to the company’s intransigence and refusal to comply with sections 102 and 111 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), and its refusal to respond to any correspondence from the union, GMWU served the company with a notice of intention to embark on strike, which was copied to the National Labour Commission.
The Commission summoned the parties to appear before it on March 1, 2023, but the company’s management refused to appear, instead sending a note to inform the Commission that they could not appear because they were appearing before another high court.
In a further development, the company’s management terminated the employment of three union leaders – the Chairperson, Secretary, and Assistant Secretary on March 2, 2023.
According to the TUC, the dismissed union leaders did no wrong but were terminated for joining a trade union and being elected to lead workers at the enterprise level.
The issue at Sunon Asogli Power, according to him, has serious implications for constitutional rights to freedom of association, to organize and collective bargaining, and the TUC and all its affiliates are showing solidarity with the unionized workers.
