Metro Mass strike: Reports workers haven’t been paid full salaries in 5 years untrue – PRO

The Senior and Junior staff of Metro Mass Transport (MMT) Limited have embarked on a sit-down strike. The workers are calling for the removal of the Albert Adu-Boahen and his two deputies over allegations of mismanagement. However, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the company, George Asante, has said the MD is not to be blamed for the current situation of the company and blamed senior staff for orchestrating the strike. Speaking on 12Live with Valentina Ofori-Afriyie, Wednesday, 12 October 2022, the PRO described the decision by the staff to embark on strike as “unlawful.” He explained that: “The decision by a section of the workers to actually undertake this unlawful exercise is quite disturbing and I call it unlawful because as a company, we have a policy that govern some of these activities, one cannot wake up and because the person feels there are few concerns, we can declare strike action or we can lay down our tools. “There’s history to this, the company appreciates the contribution of our workers’ union and that is why they have a mother union called the divisional union, that is the mother union and all of these unions are also under the Ghana Petroleum and chemical workers union. "So if a worker feels that there are concerns, what he or she has to do is to write to their union or the branch union and the branch union will write to the divisional and the divisional will subsequently also report or write to the mother union at the national level for them to write to management and engage management on that.” He said the practice of calling for the removal of leaders has not yielded results. “They have continuously been practicing this system of always trying to use such industrial actions to get from office our managing directors or executives and until today, we’re still not getting solutions, so why do we continue to see strike action as the way to go?” The PRO, also noted that this is not the first time this is happening and indicated that the company needs to identify the problem and find a solution to it. “We’re operating a transport company and you need buses to run to be able to mobilise enough revenue to make payment of certain obligations. As we’re speaking, nationwide, we’re running 187 buses. You’ll bear with me that for the past two years, fuel prices have witnessed several increments, and the question is, Metro Mass as part of policy some of our fares are even 50 pesewas lesser compared to other transport operators, so we’re not competing.” He refuted claims that individual managers were allocated fuel more than the buses. He disclosed that though the MD and management have fuel allocated, it does not come “closer to the weekly consumption of a bus.” According to the PRO, the fuel allocation for the MD does not exceed 400 litres a month. “Are they telling us that a Managing Director is not supposed to be given fuel and is that the question they’re raising and is that the solution to the problem? “If anybody is saying that the management team are taking more fuel than the buses itself that is untrue, it’s highly unfounded and I want to put on record that, that is not true.” He further disclosed that: “Had it not been for the intervention of Albert Adu Boahen as managing director, the entire company would have been closed down.” THE PRO emphasised that, the company’s current situation must not be blamed on the Managing Director but rather, the company needs new buses to operate. He also stressed that the staff of the company are aware of the situation. Reacting to the workers not being paid full salary in 5 years, the PRO stated: “That statement is untrue and I can prove it to you.”

The Senior and Junior staff of Metro Mass Transport (MMT) Limited have embarked on a sit-down strike. The workers are calling for the removal of the Albert Adu-Boahen and his two deputies over allegations of mismanagement. However, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the company, George Asante, has said the MD is not to be blamed for the current situation of the company and blamed senior staff for orchestrating the strike. Speaking on 12Live with Valentina Ofori-Afriyie, Wednesday, 12 October 2022, the PRO described the decision by the staff to embark on strike as “unlawful.” He explained that: “The decision by a section of the workers to actually undertake this unlawful exercise is quite disturbing and I call it unlawful because as a company, we have a policy that govern some of these activities, one cannot wake up and because the person feels there are few concerns, we can declare strike action or we can lay down our tools. “There’s history to this, the company appreciates the contribution of our workers’ union and that is why they have a mother union called the divisional union, that is the mother union and all of these unions are also under the Ghana Petroleum and chemical workers union. "So if a worker feels that there are concerns, what he or she has to do is to write to their union or the branch union and the branch union will write to the divisional and the divisional will subsequently also report or write to the mother union at the national level for them to write to management and engage management on that.” He said the practice of calling for the removal of leaders has not yielded results. “They have continuously been practicing this system of always trying to use such industrial actions to get from office our managing directors or executives and until today, we’re still not getting solutions, so why do we continue to see strike action as the way to go?” The PRO, also noted that this is not the first time this is happening and indicated that the company needs to identify the problem and find a solution to it. “We’re operating a transport company and you need buses to run to be able to mobilise enough revenue to make payment of certain obligations. As we’re speaking, nationwide, we’re running 187 buses. You’ll bear with me that for the past two years, fuel prices have witnessed several increments, and the question is, Metro Mass as part of policy some of our fares are even 50 pesewas lesser compared to other transport operators, so we’re not competing.” He refuted claims that individual managers were allocated fuel more than the buses. He disclosed that though the MD and management have fuel allocated, it does not come “closer to the weekly consumption of a bus.” According to the PRO, the fuel allocation for the MD does not exceed 400 litres a month. “Are they telling us that a Managing Director is not supposed to be given fuel and is that the question they’re raising and is that the solution to the problem? “If anybody is saying that the management team are taking more fuel than the buses itself that is untrue, it’s highly unfounded and I want to put on record that, that is not true.” He further disclosed that: “Had it not been for the intervention of Albert Adu Boahen as managing director, the entire company would have been closed down.” THE PRO emphasised that, the company’s current situation must not be blamed on the Managing Director but rather, the company needs new buses to operate. He also stressed that the staff of the company are aware of the situation. Reacting to the workers not being paid full salary in 5 years, the PRO stated: “That statement is untrue and I can prove it to you.”