Tripartite Committee froze ESB

The Ghana Employers Association (GEA) has explained that the End-of Service Benefit (ESB) was frozen at the instance of the Tripartite Committee in the early 1990's and, therefore, expunged from the guidelines for all collective bargaining agreements (CBA).

Mrs. Rose Karikari Annang, Executive Director of GEA who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Tema on Wednesday said "it will therefore, be wrong for any local unions to introduce it now in their negotiations for new collective agreements."

Reacting to newspaper reports about "GEA moves to sabotage ESB", Mrs. Annang said it is only the Tripartite Committee that can restore the ESB, and that is being discussed.

She urged concerned individuals and groups to come up with suggestions on how best the ESB issue could be addressed to maintain industrial peace.

"If we are talking about industrial peace, it is GEA that always champions that course, because our members have sunk enough capital to establish their industries and provide employment, therefore, they will not like to act in any way that will jeopardize the peaceful industrial atmosphere that the country is enjoying."

She said members of the GEA have their workers at heart and will do all in its power to ensure that they earn happy rest.