Ghana Post Boils

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday April 12, 2010
Tension is mounting at Ghana Post, the nation’s premier postal service, following alleged attempts by the Board to force the company’s management to expunge retirement benefits from the yet to be approved Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)
The CBA was due to be signed on May 5, 2010 but a purported interference from the board to get the management to expunge the retirement benefits from the agreement put the exercise on hold.

Yesterday, at the Ghana Post Head Office in Accra, a durbar organized by the Management headed by the Acting Managing Director, Nicholas Derry was snubbed by the workers.

The durbar was organized at the behest of the board to discuss “pertinent issues” but the workers claimed it was a platform for both the management and the board to cajole them to accept the CBA without the retirement package.

The workers said they would continue to work but would not be part of any durbar arranged by the management.

They said they would only listen to their leaders and advised the management to channel any communication through the union.

The Communications Workers Union of the Trades Union Congress in a notice signed by its General Secretary James Lartey has already expressed its disappointment about the Ghana Post Management’s attitude towards the handling of the CBA.

The notice had said that the decision to await the a meeting between the management and board and the union before the CBA is signed is “a bad practice.”

The workers have already raised red flags over the management’s style of leadership as well as the board’s interference in the running of the day-to-day administration of the company.

The workers in an interview with the Daily Guide said “we want the management and the board to know that the retirement benefit issue is a no-go area. It is our blood. They should not attempt to remove it from the CBA.”

“They are telling us that they want to get rid of the retirement package and make use of the provident fund that we contribute with our own money. It cannot be possible.”

“We do not need their durbar. We want them to speak to our union leaders at the negotiation table so that our leaders would then get back to us. What they are trying to do is unacceptable.”

“They are always complaining that there is no money for Ghana Post yet they managed to purchase brand new land cruisers for top management members.”

The workers said even though Ghana Post had a well structured strategic plan, the management with the approval of the board threw it aside and engaged another consultant to get them the same strategic plan at the cost of 50,000 dollars.

They claimed that the management was planning to change the logo of Ghana Post and had already sunk millions of cedis into the project.

They also said the board takes home GH¢ 350 as sitting allowance while some of the worker’s monthly salaries are not up to GH¢ 150.

“We have to commend our union for restraining us
from doing anything untoward about the situation. Our salaries are nothing to write home about yet we give off our maximum best. We have sacrificed enough.”

“If they insist on cancelling the retirement benefits then they are in for trouble. We will resist it with all our might. We cannot work for so many years and go retire on nothing.”

Also see: www.dailyguideghana.com