GWCL Staff On Demonstration
Workers of the Ghana Water Company Limited GWCL yesterday went on a demonstration in Accra to press home their demand for salary increases.
The workers, who converged at the company’s Accra East regional office for the demonstration, threatened to shut down the Kpong and Weija water plants if their demands are not met.
Chanting 'No money, no water!' the workers, wearing protest red arm and head bands and singing war songs, besieged the offices of Aqua Vitens Rand Limited, the private company managing the operations of the GWCL, and banged on the doors destroying two of the doors to the office rooms in the process.
The managers of Aqua Vitens for fear of attack by the demonstrators locked themselves in their offices.
The demonstration was said to be an expression of the workers’ anger at the private operator’s entrenched stance of paying a salary increase of 20 per cent as against the workers’ demand of 80per cent increase in addition to their claim that the salary negotiation had been dragging on for the past four months.
Not even the intervention of Samuel Lamptey, Chief Administrative Manager of GWCL, could calm down tempers of the workers who were from the Tema, Weija and Kpong stations.
Abdala Musah, one of the demonstrators told the Times that they could not wait any longer since the negotiation was delaying new salaries for the workers.
'We cannot wait any longer for an appreciable salary increase,' he stated.
They also accused Cliff Stone, the Director of Operations of Aqua Vitens, of incompetence and taking actions without consulting the GWCL management.
They based their accusations on the fact that City Water Services, which Mr. Stone was managing in Tanzania, and which is similar to the current one between the GWCL and Aqua Vitens, abrogated the10 year management contract, for unsatisfactory performance.
Stanley Martey, Public Relations Manager of Aqua Vitens, however told the press that negotiations for salary increases were ongoing.
'We hope for the best,' he said, and urged the workers to exercise restraint.
At the time of going to press, an emergency meeting between the management of GWCL and Aqua Vitens was being held over the issue.
A memo sent electronically by Mr. Stone on January 25 to the regional managers regarding the salaries, a copy of which is available to the Times, said: 'The union has accepted that the original demand of 80 per cent is not realistic, but below 40 per cent would be problematic,' meaning the workers would not accept any pay rise below 40 per cent.