01:10 p.m May 14, 1999 Eastern
ACCRA, May 14 (Reuters) - Workers at the flagship mines of Ghana's Ashanti Goldfields Co Ltd (AGC) in Obuasi went on strike on Friday in pursuit of a pay demand, the official Ghana News Agency (GNA) said.
All the mining plants, shafts and machinery have been shut down and vehicles remained in the car park, it said.
GNA said some of the workers claimed they had not had a pay increase for four years and they were annoyed that workers at another Ashanti mine in Siguiri, Guinea, were getting higher wages.
Union leaders had been negotiating with the company in Ghana's capital, Accra, but had returned to Obuasi on Thursday to tell the workforce that there would be no wage rise.
``We were rather given 317,000 cedis ($131) each as a ``dash,'' or gift,'' one workers said.
Adelaide Borden, secretary of the Obuasi workers' union told GNA that management had agreed to reopen talks on Saturday morning.
There was no immediate comment from Ashanti, whose offices in the town were closed, but Chamber of Mines sources said senior managers were meeting to discuss the situation.
($ - 2,415 cedis)
