TDCL congratulates TUC, workers on tariff reduction

The Tema District Council of Labour (TDCL) has congratulated the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) and workers in general for successfully pressurizing government to reduce electricity tariffs by 25 per cent.

Mr Wilson Agana, Chairman of the T DCL, told the Ghana News Agency on Monday that, the recent 25 per cent reduction in electricity, announced by government over the weekend was an achievement by workers and organized labour.

Mr Agana stated that even though the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC), government and other stakeholders refused to reduce the tariffs, the persistent pressure from organized labour and Ghanaians have yielded the desired result.

“Even though the Council was happy about the reduction, they wished the reduction was 30 per cent instead of the 25 per cent”, he said.

It would be recalled that over 500 members of the Tema District Council of Labour (TDCL), on October 17, this year, embarked on a peaceful demonstration in the Tema Metropolis to back their demand for a reduction in the increment in utility tariffs by the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PUIRC).

The demonstration, which was christened: “Yen tumi tua demonstration”, was in response to the failure of government and the PURC to heed the demands of organized labour, requesting a reduction of the announced 52 and 78.9 per cent increment for electricity and water tariffs respectively.

Mr Agana called on government to consider reducing the 78.9 increment in water tariff, as organized labour requested for a reduction in both water and electricity tariffs.

He indicated that, due to the unfavourable economic situation in the country, organised labour would be monitoring events with keen interest and when the need arises, members would protest for the betterment of workers.

He noted for example that, water supply to some localities, including the Tema Metropolis was not regular and called on the Ghana Water Company and the government to ensure that such problems were fixed.