TUC supports payment of Tier-2 Pension scheme

The Trades Union Congress of Ghana (TUC) has thrown its support behind the demand of public sector workers for the payment of Tier-2 Pension Scheme by government in order to avert an intended indefinite strike.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Friday, Mr Joshua Ansah, the Acting Secretary General of the TUC, said the government must listen to the cry of the workers and fulfil their demands to avert any repercussions it might bring on the country’s economy.

Mr Ansah said the Union supported the statement by the group and called on the government to pay the monies to the various schemes as demanded saying’; “these are our members and we cannot allow them to fight alone”.

Twelve public sector labour unions threatened to embark on an indefinite strike on September 29, this year to protest government’s way of handling their tier-2 pension contributions.

They demanded the transfer of their pension contributions from 2010 to 2016 to their custodian banks rather than being kept in a temporary pension account, which yielded no interests.

Section 218 of the National Pensions Act, 2008 (Act 766), requested for the establishment of the Temporary Pension Fund Account (TPFA) with the Bank of Ghana as a transitional arrangement pending the licensing of trustees and the registration of other service providers and schemes into which Tier two contributions are to be placed.

The authority was subsequently required to transfer all contributions, including returns, to their respective approved schemeswithin 90 days after the licensing of these entities.

However, the inability of the authority to fully, fulfil the request, especially for public sector workers, has created some doubts as to whether the money was in existence or not.

The Unions making the demand include: the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana, the Ghana National Association of Teachers, the Teachers and Educational Workers Union, and the National Association of Graduate Teachers.

Others are the Ghana Medical Association, the Ghana Physician Assistant Association, the Government Hospital Pharmacists Association, the Ghana Association of Certified Registered Nurses and the Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anaesthetics.

The rest are the Coalition of Concerned Teachers and the Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana.

Source: GNA