Casual workers petition government

Casual workers of the Ghana Ports and Harbor Authority (GPHA) on Thursday petitioned Parliament to help them gain better service condition and should be compensated for the hard work they do.

The workers from Tema and Takoradi staged a few hours peaceful demonstration before presenting their petition to the leadership of Parliament.

The spokesman of about 4,500 casual workers, Mr Daniel Mesnah said the Management of GPHA had suppressed, marginalized and exploited them for a long time and it was time the government through it's democratic powers helped them to enjoy better conditions of work.

The workers said they were made to understand that both casuals and permanent workers were to be given the similar benefits; however, when GPHA started paying voluntary retired workers the casuals were given dissatisfactory benefits.

Mr Mensah said: "Our prime and foremost grievance is that the collective bargaining process has been abused and corrupted to suit the whims and caprices of the union and management officials to the detriment of workers."

He said there were about 4,500 casual workers at the GPHA, who have been exploited over years.

The workers said some of them had been driven away from the port and could not even go there to collect their bonuses for the year 2002.

Addressing the workers, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Freddie Blay said Parliament could not deal directly with the authorities since there were sector ministers and Members of Parliament for those areas.

He however, told the workers that the issue would be dealt with satisfactorily.