By: Patience Bumbom
Labour analyst Austin Gamey has urged the government to engage with labour unions protesting over the non-payment of their SSNIT and Tier-2 pensions.
The National Association of Graduate Teachers (GNAT) has issued a one-week ultimatum to the government to pay contributions for over 700,000 Ghanaian workers.
Similarly, the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) of the TUC has also given the government until the end of the month to settle all arrears owed to its members in SSNIT and Tier-2 pension contributions.
In response to this situation, Austin Gamey stated that the government should have prioritized inviting the labour groups for discussions as soon as it defaulted on payment.
“What should be done is to invite these people, not wait for them to come and talk, because they do know that they owe them. Not just owing them, but not meeting statutory obligations. Therefore, we should have called and invited them to let their apprehension be narrowed.
“Unfortunately, we are unable to do that. It is not too late, they should invite them immediately. I wonder why we go to sleep early. What we need to do is to work, even if it is to midnight so that they can get the people and tell them that this is our situation.”
