The National Labour Commission (NLC) has directed the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to reverse a decision to block the allowances of some staff of GBC.
This follows weeks of protests and threats of industrial strike action by the workers.
According to Sam Nat Kevor, the Divisional Union Chairman of GBC, the affected allowances which include rent, housing, utility, vehicle maintenance and transportation, must be restored since inflation keeps rising and therefore the withdrawal of such allowances will worsen the cost of living.
However, the FWSC boss, Ben Arthur insists the initiative forms part of its nationwide payroll monitoring exercise with the Internal Audit Agency.
He explained that as part of the payroll monitoring exercise, it had been discovered that some staff of GBC are currently enjoying allowances that they are not entitled to.
Mr Arthur said the commission exists to ensure better working conditions for workers and will not compromise.
But during a hearing of a complaint tabled before it by the FWSC over the pending strike by the staff of GBC, the NLC described the FWSC’s directive as unlawful.
Subsequently, the Commission has given the FWSC a 14-day ultimatum to reverse its decision to strike out the allowances in question and restore all deductions made from the salaries of GBC staff.
Background
The FWSC began payroll auditing in April this year. Two weeks ago, the FWSC audited the payroll of the staff of GBC over some allowances which, it said, some staff did not deserve.
It, therefore, wrote to the CAGD to stop the payment of the allowances and allow the affected staff to refund the money. The GBC unionised staff cautioned against the directive, but the CAGD carried it through.
Recounting the genesis of what led to the deductions by the FWSC, the divisional union chairman said these allowances were negotiated as “per our collective agreement and senior management staff condition of service.”
He said the last negotiation by the Public Services Joint Standing Negotiation Committee (PSJNC) occurred on August 26, 2019, with the effective payment date being January 1, 2020.
He said, “The disposition of the CEO of the FWSC began with the negotiation for our category two and three non-core allowances which started smoothly in 2021 with the then CEO, Dr Edward Kwapong until Mr Arthur took over in the latter part of 2022.”
The posture of Mr Arthur, according to Mr Kevor, was clearly manifested in the number of times negotiations had to be adjourned.
Negotiations
Mr Kevor alleged that Mr Arthur deliberately delayed forwarding the outcome of the negotiations to the Ministry of Finance for onward transfer to the CAGD.
He said in spite of the intervention from the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Arthur still delayed for four months until he finally forwarded the signed agreement to the Ministry of Finance.
Mr Kevor, who wore red headgear and was flanked by the Chairman of the Senior Management Union, Alhaji Abdul Razak Tahiru, and a member of the Local Trustee, Mr Abraham Osekre, said a meeting convened by the Minister of Information and the CEO of FWSC to seek a resolution to the impasse could not yield any result as Mr Arthur claimed that the collective agreement of GBC had expired and also the allowances had been revised under the Single Spine Salary Scheme.
He said in spite of efforts to prevent the deductions and to meet him, Mr Arthur went ahead and directed the CAGD to remove the allowances of GBC workers.