Parties resolve labour impasse at Pepsi

Parties involved in the labour impasse that led to the strike action by workers of Pepsi Cola Plant of the Ghana Bottling Company Limited on Tuesday have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enable management to re-open the gates as soon as practicable for work to begin.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Wednesday, Mr Talic King Essilfie, Chief Labour Officer, said a joint meeting of representatives from the local Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union, the management of Pepsi Cola and government had "an in-depth discussion" over concerns raised by the workers.

He said the main issue identified during the discussion was payment of overtime to workers. Representatives at the meeting therefore, recommended that a five-member committee be set up with representation from the affected parties to look at the clocking and the payroll system of the company.

Mr Essilfie explained that the computerised system made it difficult for management to calculate payment for overtime. The committee would also consider any other issue relating to overtime and come out with modalities to compute holiday entitlements.

The MOU also required management to ensure that the human resource manager went back to continue her job and asked the workers' union leaders to remove all red flags from the work premises.

The Chief Labour Officer said representatives also agreed that ring leaders were not to be punished since there was a form of mechanism to ensure that lost hours were covered. Workers of the company on Tuesday went on strike to demand for better working conditions.

When the GNA visited the premises on Wednesday, only a few casual workers could be seen hanging around. A worker who wished to remain anonymous said most of the workers came early in the morning but found the gates still closed with some policemen patrolling the area. No management staff reported for work.