Exclusive: GMWU corroborates Sunon Asogli Workers Unionisation frustration
Further to our earlier story on the plight of Ghanaian workers at the Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Limited situated in the Tema Metropolis of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, this portal can report authoritatively that the TUC Affiliate union that has been trying to champion the workers' concerns, for more than one year now, is the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMWU).
The portal contacted the General Secretary of the GMWU, Mr. Abdul-Moomin Gbana, to find out from him, the union’s position on the developing story and the extent to which they have tried to deal with the concerns of the workers at Sunon Asogli particularly regarding complaints or allegations of worker abuses and exploitation, as we reported in the earlier piece headlined; “Enough of the abuse, exploitation – Workers of Sunon Asogli Power cry out!” https://www.modernghana.com/news/1203854/enough-of-the-abuse-exploitation-workers-of.html
In response to the concerns of the workers of Sunon Asogli as revealed to us by our sources, Mr. Gbana confirmed to us that “yes, many of the allegations bordering on bullying, victimization, intimidation, and threatening behaviours are real and indeed are being perpetrated against our members within the company”. He cited instances where some employees were unfairly terminated without recourse to fair hearing and later paid some monies under the guise of a redundancy exercise just so that the company can look good or right before the law and in the eyes of the public.
He also said there were cases where some workers had been reprimanded for simply asking questions or speaking up on issues at the workplace. "These are simply abusive and condemnable," the GMWU Chief Scribe fumed. Meanwhile, apart from speaking with the GMWU General Secretary, we also caught up with some employees, including ex-employees, who volunteered to speak to us under strict conditions of anonymity, who also cited cases of labour right abuses, intimidation and victimization in the company.
The GMWU Chief Scribe, Abdul-Moomin Gbana, decried the company’s posturing on the unionization of workers describing the company’s actions as “anti-union and unlawful and insisted that their members had every right to freely associate and collectively bargain in accordance with ILO Conventions 87 and 98, the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) and that nothing can stop them from enjoying these inalienable rights”.
Mr. Gbana went further to catalogue the numerous times the Union had tried to engage the company with regard to the unionization of workers of Sunon Asogli and the frustration they have had to face and indeed, are still facing to date. He bemoaned the blatant disregard for upholding workers' rights, at the company, saying "it is sad. Some Ghanaian managers have joined forces with their foreign collaborators and abusing the rights of poor Ghanaian workers.”
According to him, ever since the over 80 employees of Sunon Asogli joined the GMWU, it has been one challenge or the other all geared towards frustrating the process of unionization. “In fact, sometimes we write letters to the company requesting meetings and they would simply not reply and in cases where they reply at all, meeting dates are postponed indefinitely. But we understand these games and avoidance strategies too well and would often keep our cool and cooperate with the laid down processes and procedures on unionization mandated by the Labour Department,” Mr. Gbana stressed.
According to him, the frustration about unionization at Sunon Asogli, can also be attested to by officers of the Labour Department who were equally not spared in the grand scheme by the company to circumvent and frustrate the unionization of these workers. “It is on record that, the Tema Municipal Labour Officer under the instruction of the Chief Labour Officer visited the premises of Sunon Asogli several times to conduct a simple verification exercise required by law and as a condition precedent for the issuance of a Collective Bargaining Certificate, but Sunon Asogli would simply not cooperate with the Labour Department”.
According to Mr. Gbana, after several visits to the company without any cooperation, the Labour Department was convinced that the company was deliberately resisting the unionization process and therefore determined to deny and frustrate the free expression of the workers’ rights at the workplace. Having satisfied itself and determined to promote and protect the rights of workers, the Labour Department issued a Collective Bargaining Certificate to the GMWU.
The decision of the Labour Department was consequently upheld by the National Labour Commission reinforcing the right of the workers to form and join a union of their choice. The Commission also affirmed the work of the Labour Department leading to the issuance of the Collective Bargaining Certificate as lawful and therefore appropriate. Indeed, in the Commission’s rulings, it clearly cited among other things, the anti-union posturing of Sunon Asogli and its deliberate ploy to frustrate the unionization process and deny the workers the free expression of their rights to association and collective bargaining.
Mr. Gbana said it was shocking that even after the National Labour Commission has communicated its decision on the same matter in two different instances both reinforcing each other, Sunon Asogli Power is acting intransigent and still in self-denial of the current reality viz; that the workers of Sunon Asogli like every worker in Ghana have the right to form or join a union of their choice and they have overwhelmingly chosen to do so, that the Labour Department promotes and safeguards the rights of Ghanaian workers and it has done exactly so, and last but not the least, the National Labour Commission promotes and protects the free expression of workers’ rights and the Commission has equally done exactly so in all rulings.
On the way forward, Mr. Gbana stated that “the GMWU believes in constructive dialogue and so at this stage, the GMWU expects Sunon Asogli which is a multinational corporation with full knowledge of workers’ rights both nationally and internationally to eat a humble pie by recognizing and respecting the rights of these workers to freely associate and collectively bargain. We are currently taking steps to constitute the Standing Negotiating Committee in accordance with the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) in order to secure and protect the interests of our members."
Sunon Asogli Thermal Power Station, also Asogli Thermal Power Station, is a 560 MW (750,000 hp) natural gas-fired thermal power station in Ghana. The power station is privately owned by Sunon Asogli Power Ghana Limited. The power plant was the first privately-owned electricity generation installation in the history of Ghana. It is in the Kpone neighbourhood of the port city of Tema.