Let's play it fair to make new Labour Act work - Gen-Sec

Kumasi, March 12, GNA - Mr Joshua Ansah, General Secretary of the Timber and Wood Workers Union, has called on employers and workers to play it fair and act together to make the new Labour Act work. He said it was in their mutual interest to find common ground at all times and end "the dark chapter" of strikes and demonstrations by labour in the country.

Mr Ansah, who was addressing a regional council meeting of the Union in Kumasi, advised workers in the sector not to make the issue of the "pay pocket" become their main pre-occupation and concern but to also focus on the sustenance of the industry. "You should recognise that your fate is tied to that of the companies you are working with. Their collapse will automatically render you jobless". He said it was therefore important that they adopt the right attitudes and work ethics to enhance productivity.

Mr Ansah also reminded them to insist that their employers pay their social security deductions at the end of the month to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust. He condemned the practice where some employers keep those deductions, risking the future of the contributors. That is completely unacceptable and must be resisted, the General Secretary added.

Mr Ansah called for a quick end to the management crisis that had over the past one year bedevilled the Specialised Timber Products, a Kumasi timber firm, saying, it had caused its over 400 workers to suffer undue economic hardships. They have for about 12 months not received their salaries and this should be a source of worry to everyone.