Agitation On Labour Front Continues As TDCL Supports 10-Day Ultimatum

The Tema District Council of Labour (TDCL) on Friday said the ultimatum issued by organised labour to the government and Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to reduce utility tariffs was not �opportunistic, hypocritical and political.� It said Mr Abraham Koomson, Secretary General, Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL), had unfairly criticized the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on the ultimatum issue while �in fact the ultimatum he is talking about was not issued by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) but by organised labour which the TUC leads and fully endorses�. A press release issued and signed in Tema by Mr Wilson Agana, Chairman, and Mr Ebenezar Kodwo Taylor, Secretary, of TDCL respectively, said the GFL was fully represented at the two meetings of Organised Labour that agreed on the need to state the position of workers. �At these meetings, organised labour comprising of all the major labour unions agreed on the content of a press statement including giving government a 10-day ultimatum to reduce the tariffs. It said the GFL fully participated in the meetings and did not raise any initial objections to either the substantive demands of the larger groups or the approach to achieving them. The statement said Mr Koomson seemed to be making fetish of the fact that TUC is represented on Public Utility and Regulatory Commission (PURC) and also participated on the stakeholder consultations leading to the increases for which reason it cannot complain about the increase. �This way of thinking and looking at the issue clearly shows that the man does not appreciates the current industrial relations regime in the country. Obviously in such an environment it might seem that the TUC�s membership of the PURC and many other public boards is not necessary to some extent,� it said. The statement said it was instructive to note that while things might not be going the way �we all want a lot more would have gone wrong without TUC�s membership of either the PURC or the many other public institutions.� It appealed to Ghanaians not to allow anybody �to muddy the waters and to frustrate the genuine cry of workers and Ghanaians�.