RAIL WORKERS ON STRIKE (PAGE 14)

Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi

ABOUT 2,420 rail workers throughout the country are asking for a 150-per cent salary increase and better conditions of service as a condition for ending their more-than-one-week strike.
Their action is said to have had a serious effect on the company and its clients.
The company is said to have an outstanding debt running into millions of dollars.
A spokesperson of the workers said for many years, they had not seen any upward adjustment in their salaries, described as very scanty.
Consequently, he said they could not access any of the credit facilities made available by various financial institutions in the country, adding that the problem was beyond the reach of the current management and called for ministerial intervention.
The workers had described the strike as “hunger strike”.
When contacted, the Managing Director of the Ghana Railway Company (GRC), Mr Ruphus Quaye, said the management was doing everything possible to put the railway sector back on its feet.
He said when the management took over in November, last year, there was six-month salary arrears and at a meeting between the workers union and the management, the workers resolved to work hard to clear the outstanding salaries and also continue with other plans that would improve on the fortunes of the company.
“We have worked hard to clear four months’ salary arrears and it is left with two months. All of a sudden, they have rested their tools, which is not only going to affect revenue, but also slow the business activities of our clients, which include bauxite and manganese companies”.
The managing director said the staff strength of the company at the moment was 2,420 and that 75 per cent of the total revenue of the company went into servicing the salaries of workers, with little left for the running of the company.
“This means that we have to find a way of dealing with our main problem, which was settling of huge debts with the Social Security and National Insurance Scheme (SSNIT) and also to retrench workers,” he said.
“I must also stress that the company is also distressed; we have a lot of debts to settle. There are more workers than the activities of the company at the moment. We still have hope that there is so much revenue to generate but until we finish dealing with the problem, we cannot move on,” Mr Quaye said.
“We have had attention in recent times from investors and the government. Therefore, we must be seen to be doing what will send the right signals to investors instead of strikes,” the managing director said.
Mr Quaye pointed out that at the moment, the company was waiting for $45 million from the government, part of which would be used to service the debt and thereafter begin work on the rehabilitation of the lines.
The MD said there was the need for the workers to know that they no longer received government subvention and that they were now reaching out for full cost recovery, adding that there was the need for co-operation from all members of staff.
The General Secretary of the Rail Workers Union, Mr Samuel Kokovena, said it was true that since the management took over in November last year, they had managed to clear four out of the six-month salary arrears.
He also agreed that the size of the company’s staff was bigger than needed, which does not augur well for the development of the company.
He justified the 150-per cent upward salary adjustment being demanded by the workers, since for many years the workers had not seen any increase in salary.
“We will love to work, because bauxite, manganese and others are all there. We have a huge deposit of manganese in Nyinahin and Kyebi and the revamping of the sector would pay. With the establishment of the aluminium company here in the Western Region, which would depend so much on rail transport, there are prospects but our service conditions are poor,” he said.