Volta CLOSAG gives notice of strike

Ho, Aug 18, GNA - The Volta Regional Chapter of the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOSAG), has served notice of an indefinite strike if members are not migrated onto the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) by the close of this month. A statement read to the media by chairman of the group, Mr Samuel Danquah, after a brief meeting of members, expressed disenchantment at the back-and-forth process of the negotiations and demanded that Mr George Smith-Graham, Chief Executive of the Fair Wages Commission (FWC) be sacked. The group accused the Commission of 93lackadaisical attitude" against CLOSAG, which 93can no longer be tolerated". The statement said CLOSAG members in the Volta Region were agitated by the delay just as others, especially so when they 93pay the same academic user fees, utility service bills and patronize the same markets" with the better paid public sector workers. It said the supposed job-grading for CLOSAG posted in a newspaper, was not known to its leaders.

The statement contended that after the job-evaluation, as agreed by the group and the FWC, nothing concrete was heard from the Commission, suggesting 93our national officers have been treated with disdain".

It said that newspaper publication attributed to Mr Smith-Graham indicating submission of a job-grading structure based on of a job-reevaluation exercise for the 43,000 membership of CLOSAG, to the Ministry of Finance for validation, even failed to give time for the migration.

Mr Richard Kumedzro, Ho Municipal CLOSAG Chairman, asserted during the meeting that it was grossly unfair to implement a prime human resource policy, such as this, when the beneficiaries did not have a hint about it.