CEPS Officers Sue GRA Over Dues

Eight officers of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) have hauled the Authority before an Accra High Court over trade union dues.

The applicants, who filed the suit on behalf of all officers of the Customs Division, are requesting an order for interlocutory injunction restraining the Authority from receiving and deducting the dues from the salaries of customs officers.

According to the applicants - Douglas Konadu Yiadom, Nana Serwaa Caiquo, Abdul-Jalil- Rahaman, the deduction of the two percent dues is unconstitutional.

Also joined to the suit is the Public Service Workers Union (PSWU) of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), the second respondent.

The applicants are back in court months after a ruling by the Supreme Court that the customs officers cannot unionize because they were part of a quasi-security body whose personnel wield guns.

Lawyers of the applicants, in an affidavit in support of the motion filed on January 12, said on December 9, 2010 the PSWU wrote to GRA requesting the deduction of Trade Union dues of 2 percent from the basic salaries of all staff of the Customs Division of GRA from the rank of Junior Collection Assistants (IV) to Principal Collectors without regard to the law and consent of the said personnel.

It said on January 6, 2011, the junior staff of the Customs Division wrote a letter requesting the immediate cessation of the implementation of the decision made by PSWU for the deduction of the Trade Union dues.

The applicant’s lawyers stated that on January 13, 2011, a representative of PSWU, issued a circular reaffirming the deductions from the basic salaries of the officers, directing that all officers, who did not wish to join the said union, to notify the Deputy Commissioner Finance and Corporate Planning (Customs Division) by February 15, 2011.

The applicants noted the despite the concerns raised, the PSWU, on February 18, 2011 re-applied to GRA, requesting the operationalization of the Trade Union dues deduction from salaries of the Custom Officers.

The group, in the 20-paragraph affidavit, among others, averred that on April 11, 2012 some officers of the Customs Division of the GRA wrote to the Commissioner-General of the GRA, bringing to his attention the fact that the deductions from their salaries since April 2011 as union dues was not authorized, as they did not subscribe to or fill any forms to become members of PSWU.

The applicants are seeking a declaration that the defendants’ purported deductions and receipt of the trade unions dues violates the Labour Act, 2003 and the decision of the Supreme Court in Customs Excise and Preventive Service (NO.2) vrs. National Labour Commission and Attorney-General (2011) SCGLR 85, etc.

The custom officers also want a declaration that all trade union dues deducted from the salaries of all customs officers by the defendants are unlawful.

The applicants, who prayed the court for cost for legal representation, are seeking an order directed at the defendants to refund dues to all officers of the Customs Division of GRA.