body-container-line-1

Workers Declare Strike Over Pension Cash

By Daily Guide
General News Workers Declare Strike Over Pension Cash
OCT 22, 2014 LISTEN

President John Mahama
Baring any hitch, amalgamation of associations within the health and education sectors, the judiciary as well as the civil service, will embark on an indefinite strike from today.

Their reason is that attempts to get the government to release the 2 nd  tier pension funds had fallen on deaf ears, claiming it was only industrial action that could compel the government to listen to their grievances.

The government has refused to release the second tier pension funds to fund managers selected by the associations, but rather wants them to register with a particular fund manager which is against the new pension law.

Under the new pension law SSNIT gets 13.5 per cent from contributors while five per cent goes to the second tier operators to be managed for the contributors.

This arrangement took effect from 2010 but as at the time of putting this paper to bed, not a dime had been paid to fund managers under the second tier scheme, compelling the public sector workers to issue the strike threat.

Rainbow
The associations which have formed what is known as Forum for Public Sector Registered Pension Schemes, were represented from the health sector by Health Service Workers Union (HSWU), Ghana Registered Nurses' Association (GRNA), Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Ghana Physician Assistants Association (GPAA), Government and Hospitals Pharmacists' Association (GHOSPA) as well as Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anesthetists (GRCRA) forming the Health Sector Occupational Pension Scheme.

In the education sector, the Ghana Education Service (GES) Occupational Scheme was represented by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Teachers and Educational Workers' Union (TEWU), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT).

The Judicial Services Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) represented the Judicial Service Occupational Pension Scheme while Civil and Local Government Staff Association (CLOGSAG) which brought in the Hedge Master Trust Occupational Pension Scheme, complete the formation of the forum.

Emerging Issues
At a heavily attended news conference in Accra yesterday, the associations unanimously endorsed the strike action and vowed not to return to work until their demands were met.

Reynolds O. Tenkorang, Acting General Secretary of Health Service Workers Union, who read the joint statement, said the first batch of beneficiaries under the new National Pension Act 2008 (Act 766) who are due for retirement by January next year, 'are in the dark as to where to claim the 2 nd  Tier benefits.'

Pension Alliance Trust
According to the forum, they had already rejected the imposition of a Pension Alliance Trust planned by the government and pointed out that in 2012 when the forum met President John Mahama, they made it clear that a letter issued by the government through the finance minister imposing the trust on them was uncalled-for since it had been unilaterally done by the government.

Mr Tenkorang said the forum insisted that the government had a duty to allow what he called 'full operationalization of the Public Sector Pension Scheme.'

He said since 2009, organised labour had been agitating for improved pension for workers; and the issues raised during 2013 and 2014 May Day celebrations attested to the fact that the unions had the right to actively participate in the management of the 2 nd  tier pension scheme and wanted issues that caused the delay in implementation resolved without delay.

'In our quest to seek an amicable settlement, we appealed to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises. This was closely followed by a letter to the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations for an intervention to avoid an escalation of the tension that was building,' Mr Tenkorang disclosed.

President's Committee
He also said that the forum had 'countless' meetings with the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) as well as other 'numerous official and unofficial' meetings with the sector minister, but to no avail; and added that they followed up to the President in July to urge him to find lasting solution to the problem.

They said President Mahama subsequently set up a committee to investigate the emerging issues and submit recommendations within three days but the report had been submitted without any official action.

The Declaration
'The forum, having gone through the processes and waited for this long period, have decided to use the only means available to us to seek redress of our grievances. We have collectively decided to embark on an indefinite strike action with effect from Wednesday, October 22, 2014, to press home our demand of getting the government to release the funds accruing to our schemes and subsequent releases, to make the public sector scheme operational without delay,' he said.

During questions and answers, Isaac Bampoe Addo, Executive Secretary of CLOGSAG, said, 'We are not seeking to manage the funds. The law is clear that it should be managed by firms licensed by the NPRA.'

By William Yaw Owusu

body-container-line