By Laudia Sawer, GNA
Tema, May 17, GNA – The Tema District Council of Labour (TDCL) has called on the Ministry of Transport, and Management of the Tema Ship Yard to reinstate some workers it interdicted or face their wrath.
Mr Emmanuel Addo-Kumi, Vice Chairman of the TDCL, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Tema, said the interdiction of the said workers who were members of the Council had gone beyond the stipulated six months as indicated by the labour laws of Ghana.
Mr Addo-Kumi explained that the labour laws say that “if a worker was on interdiction for six months, the person must be called back because it was presumed that within six months any investigations that was done would have been completed and necessary decisions would have been taken”.
He said the Tema Ship Yard Managing Director was violating the rules, as he had interdicted some of its workers for about six months and the MD was not ready to recall those staff.
This, he said was a violation of the Labour Regulations 2007 LI 1833 (8) (1) which stated that when an employer interdicts an employee, the employer shall pay not less than 50 per cent of the employee’s salary for six months, during investigations, disciplinary or criminal proceedings for an offence which he has been charged.
The regulations also stated that the employer shall pay the employee the salaries withheld during the interdiction if the employee is exonerated from the offence for which he has been charged.
The TDCL Vice Chairman said the workers on interdiction were accused of several offences with the main one being engagement with the media over issues that bordered on their working rights and infringement on the labour laws of Ghana.
“We are calling on the Board and the Ministry of Transport to make sure that the MD is brought to book, to ensure that our people who are at home are called back without delay,” he said.
He stressed that “So we are calling on the President, the Ministries of Trade, Labour, and Transport to call the Tema Ship Yard MD to book to call our people back without delay.”
GNA
