Government woos striking railway workers

The Ministry of Transport has said it has taken steps to resolve grievances of striking railway workers.

The Ghana Railway Workers Union Thursday declared an indefinite strike after an unproductive meeting with the National Labour Commission (NLC) and the Transport Ministry.

They are demanding payment of their three-month salary arrears and improvement in condition of service.

Their grievances, according to the Chief Director of the Ministry of Transport, are being resolved by the Ministry.

Speaking to Starr News Thursday, Twumasi Ankrah Selby said “because of the limited work that they [Railway Workers] do and the number of staff or personnel that they have which is more than actually what is needed for certain operation — definitely what they earn is not enough to really meet their salary expenditures.”

“Because of that situation government for some time now has been supporting them… based on what they raise government supports them to meet their salary expenses,” he added.

Government, he said, regrets the undue delay in the payment of salaries of the workers explaining that it was as a result of some bottlenecks facing the Ministry of Finance assuring that the issues are being addressed.

“We are addressing the National Labour Commission and together with the Ministry of Finance, we are trying to address the issue as to how best to get them back to work,” he told Starr News.