Eastern AESL Workers Declare Strike

Workers of the Eastern Regional branch of the Architectural and Engineering Services Limited (AESL), have declared a strike beginning today [Monday], over non-payment of salaries.

According to the workers, they were last paid in July 2017.

They have blamed the government for failing to constitute a board of directors to oversee the affairs of the company.

The spokesperson for the workers, Kinglsey Aboagye, told Citi News that the strike had become necessary as management has been unresponsive to their demands.

“We met and decided that we cannot be coming to work. We are really hard up. People are finding it difficult to even find money to come to work. When you are not being paid, people owe rent, utilities, our children’s school fees, and so we met and decided as a group that we cannot continue like that,” he said.

The workers had threatened a strike last Thursday.
Some aggrieved workers who also spoke to Citi News indicated that, they have been surviving on bank loans after several months without salaries.

Sanction management
The workers who called on the government to intervene believe sanctions should be meted out to management members for their mismanagement.

“The problem is our management because they have to manage our issues, our sector minister, Samuel Atta Akyea, is very much aware of our plight but we are surprised since his government took over power he has not done anything about it.”

“Not paying staff who have worked for close to 7 months is not good management so we believe heads must roll, people should be held responsible for these issues because how do you expect workers to survive without salaries? So we are therefore calling on government to look into our matters and deal with individuals whose negligence have caused our plights.”

Threats by AESL workers in Upper West
Staff of AESL in the Upper West Region are also threatening to lay down their tools in protest the non-payment of their salaries.

At a press briefing on Wednesday, the group said the government had not paid them for the past seven months.

Their leader, Naa Aziz Bukari, expressed concern about the situation, saying it is affecting their productivity since most of them are unable to meet their family obligations.

He has therefore asked the government to immediately pay them or they will have no other choice than to “advise” themselves.

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By: Marie-Franz Fordjoe/citifmonline.com/Ghana