Coppon Workers on Strike

Akyem Oda (E/R) May 18 GNA - Workers of Coppon Wood Processing Company at Akyem Oda on Wednesday defied a downpour to take to the streets in protest against what they called high-handedness by management.

They blocked all access routes to the company to prevent the Management personnel from going out from the premises. The workers complained about the Mmanagement's failure to pay them their salaries for the past three months, a situation they said was having a negative impact on their families. "At the moment we cannot pay our wards school fees in secondary schools nor afford to pay our utility bills", they complained to the Ghana News Agency (GNA).

The workers also complained that contrary to the labour regulations they were made to work 12 hours daily including weekends and public holidays without being paid overtime allowances. Some of them accused the Management of making them to work for as long as 12 years without being confirmed as permanent employees. When contacted, Mr Kwadwo Addai, the Union Chairman confirmed the grievances of the workers but said they did not pass through the proper channel before embarking on the demonstration. Mr Charles Oppong, the Managing Director of the Company, told the soon normalise.

At the time of filing the story the Mmanagement was holding talks with union leaders behind closed doors to see how best to resolve the impasse.

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