<<Print>>

There is raging tension between the management and the Staff of the Intercity State Transport Corporation Coaches Limited over what the workers claim to be a deliberate attempt on the part of the management to rip them off their entitlements. Staff members at the workshop of the company have alleged that, the new management, under the watch of Major General Rtd. Laud Attivor, has premeditatedly refused to pay to them some allowances they were enjoying before the Atta Mills� men took over office since November last year. We are reliably informed that, monies deducted from the salaries of the workers of these departments, to be put into the coffers of their various Welfare Associations, have not been paid since November 2009. The association is made up of 62 workers and they contribute an amount of GH�1864 every month for their up keep since they do not have access to any retirement benefits. It is no more a hidden truth that they are very much startled by the profligate spending of the company�s new Managing Director. They have also alleged that apart from the fact that, �1.2 Billion was used to purchase a new Toyota V8 Land Cruiser for his comfort, he has purchased a Crash Guide a cost of �16million and a carpet, at a price of �3 million, all for his car. The workers have complained bitterly that the money used to buy those two components of the car, is more expensive than the contributions of 62 workers of the Workshop Welfare Association, some of whom have worked for the company more than 25years. The said that the Senior Staffs of the company, management excluded, have not received their fuel coupons since the beginning of the year. Each coupon is worth GH�180 per month and that helps to ease their cost of living in this current difficult situations and unbearable hardship in the country at present. This has resulted in most members of the senior staff, parking their vehicles. Some of the workers who complained about the situation said that they are continuously being intimated by Major General Rtd. Attivor, to the extent of wanting to pay some of them off. When we cross-checked from the management, the Finance Director of the company, Madam Daphne Simpson, denied the allegations and subsequently directed the Searchlight to the Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of STC, Mr Nii Ankrah. He however admitted that some arrears are still unpaid and that it does not pertain to the Workshop Welfare Association alone. �To the best of my knowledge, all arrears were paid in December last year. But if there is any arrears that have not been paid, it should take effect from January this year,� he stated.