Workers laid down their tools and chanted songs to register their displeasure
Correspondence from Upper East
Workers of Denys Engineers and Contractors in the Upper East Region have laid down their tools over what they term as the company’s unwillingness to pay them their redundancy benefits.
The company, which is constructing a government water treatment plant at the Tono Dam in Navrongo which upon completion would address the water needs of parts of the region is almost winding up work on the facility after almost 4 years, but workers say talks about settlement of their redundancy benefits have been brushed aside by management.
The workers say the company is planning not to pay them the compensation.
Clad in red at the company’s premises and chanting songs to register their displeasure, the workers made up of welders, plumbers, drivers, electricians and labourers, maintained that they deserve to be given the benefits considering their long service and commitment to work which is helping the company to successfully execute the project.
The workers said, “We have worked for 2 years. Some of us have worked for almost 3 years. We have worked from Paga to Navrongo and to Bolga and Zuarungu. We have done all the work and it is almost finished and its left with only 2 to 3 months. Now to pay people [workers] their redundancy, they [company] say no redundancy for us”.
“After this work, some of us will fall seriously sick because we sit in the machines from morning to evening. We do drillings and sometimes operators would take shovels and work. But now that we said they should give us redundancy; they say no redundancy for us”.
The workers said the company has not being paying their risk allowances even though they are entitled to such emoluments by virtue of the nature of the work. They added that workers are made to work for more hours but are not paid accordingly.
Bawa Abdul Ganiu, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said all attempts to sit with management to address their concerns have not been successful.
He said management communicated to workers that the “rule” has been changed which means workers would not be paid their redundancy benefits.
Mr. Bawa compared the conditions of service to other companies and described the decision of the company as unfair and appealed to management to take a second look at it or they will use all legitimate means to demand what is rightfully theirs.
“We are entitled to the benefits because we have suffered a lot. They don’t pay our risk allowances self. We do 9 hours per day but they [company] pay 8 hours”.
“We have met with management but they say we don’t have benefits. That they have changed the rule. What they have been doing at other places, here they have changed it and we don’t know why. They did not even tell us they have changed it”.
“But all we want is our benefits and we go. We are not going to use any violence or harm anybody. All we want is our benefits. If you give us our benefit. The right thing must be done”. The workers told Correspondent, Senyalah Castro.
GhanaWeb’s efforts to get management of the company to respond to the concerns raised by the agitated workers were unsuccessful.