MMT boils over moves to sack workers

Scores of workers at the Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMT) are fuming with anger over their management’s decision to lay off workers, particularly drivers and conductors of the company, by the end of April 2015, Today has learnt.

Today understands that the move has been met with stiff opposition by the workers, many of who have demanded to know the rationale behind it.

According to our sources, the move formed part of retrenchment and restructuring exercise the company intends to undertake to ensure its survival in the transport business.

The obviously worried workers, who made numerous telephone calls to the office of Today over the weekend, revealed that they were informed about the intended management’s decision.

The reason for the retrenchment, the helpless workers alleged, was as a result of some vital information of the company which management thought were leaked to the media by the workers.

According to the distressed workers, they also overheard management saying "without further endangering the sustainability of the transport business, we have to carry out the retrenchment to save the company from collapsing."

And if the intended plan is carried out, the workers told this paper that about 670 employees out of 4,500 staff would be affected.

"We know that our company is in a big mess but the decision to sack some of us would be disastrous to the nation. We will be doomed as a nation if our leaders allow the company to execute this agenda," they added.

Today's findings further revealed that MMTL was losing about GH¢12.8 million revenue every month as 531 out of the 800 operational buses had been grounded as at March 12, 2015 due to lack of spare parts.

And each bus, Today learnt, makes an average daily sales of GH¢800 from the 531 operational buses that had been parked, an allegation the Public Relations Officer of MMTL, Ms. Bernice Akologo, had earlier denied.

Reliable sources told Today that as a result of the situation, more than half of the company’s staff went to work virtually doing nothing.

However, in an interview with Today on Friday, March 27, 2015 in Accra, the PRO of MMT, Ms. Bernice Akologo, refuted the allegation that her outfit had plans to sack some workers including drivers and conductors by the end of April 2015.

Though Ms. Akologo admitted that managers of the company recently held a management meeting, she said there was no discussion on retrenchment.

She stressed that the allegation was a calculated attempt by some faceless people to soil the hard-won reputation of the company.

She also denied the allegation that MMTL was in a big mess, saying the Ministry of Transport has approved the proposal for her outfit to purchase some spare parts for their broken down buses. She disclosed that the approval was given by the sector Minister, Mrs. Dzifa Attivor, last Monday, March 23, 2015 which the company had since purchased the spare parts.

“We have now bought more spare parts so our technicians and technical engineers have been asked to work over-time, starting from Friday, March 27, 2015 to repair the few buses which developed little faults,” she pointed out.