Union accuses Ghana Highway Authority for over-working

The Construction and Building Materials Workers Union (CBMWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), has accused the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) of authorizing contractors in the construction industry to subject their employees to work more than the stipulated time.

They said the workers were being made to work 45 hours per week instead of the normal 40 hours.

Mr Pius Kweku Quainoo, General Secretary of CBMWU, who made the accusation at a seminar organized by the Union recently, said it was only the Minister of Labour together with Parliament who could extend the normal working 40-hour per week.

He called on the GHA to nullify the illegal extension of hours stipulated in the Public Procurement Document, which allows the contractors to commence work.

That fault, he said, had emboldened contractors to compel their employees to work without overtime.

Mr Quainoo said Ghana was a member of the International Labour Organization and had ratified the relevant laws guaranteeing the country’s acceptance to apply the right to the stipulated hours of work.

He said the anomaly had also stalled negotiations for better conditions of service, adding that “in our candid opinion, people in authority must not conduct themselves in a manner that would prompt workers to go on strike for the solution of a simple matter”.

He said it was important for management to always consult leadership of trades unions before decisions were made.

Meanwhile, Mr Norbert B. Quarmor, Director of Public Affairs of the GHA, when contacted said, the contract extension was an anomaly which management would meet to deliberate on and correct.

Source: GNA