Some aggrieved employees of Adamus Resource, a mining firm operating on Nzema land, have catalogued a number of grievances they would like the mining company to address, before the first week of December.
The employees, who call themselves “Concerned Employees” have served notice that if their grievances are not addressed by 3rd December, 2023 they would advise themselves.
They have consequently petitioned the Speaker of Parliament, the Mineral Commission (MC), the Labour Commission, the Ghana Mineworkers Union (GMWU), the Ministry of Labour and Employment Relations among others, about their concerns and grievances.
“In view of the above, we have given management up to 3rd December to get the issue addressed. We shall advise ourselves if our grievances are not addressed,” the employees wrote in their petition.
By making their grievances open to the public, Ghanaians will appreciate their suffering, since things are not rosy at the mining company.
Given the grievances highlighted in the employees’ petition to the aforementioned institutions, including the Group Head of Adamus Resources, they have asked the company to pay all outstanding Provident Fund (PF) with interest to fund managers without any delay.
They alleged that their provident fund, though already deducted from their salaries, has not reached their fund managers from September 2022 to date.
Apart from that, employees alleged that the Tier II contribution of the employees, which does not get to their fund managers, they urge on management to pay in full to the fund managers with interest without delay.
They also alleged that management, without recourse to employees, had withdrawn the end-of-contract benefit that was enshrined in their contract.
“We consider this as a blatant disrespect to the workforce. We want this reinstated and all outstanding monies paid without delay.”
Management, in response to the grievances raised by employees, indicated that it had come to their attention that employees of the mine were threatening to demonstrate over the non-payment of 2022 production bonuses.
Following the agitation, management says in their response to the employees’ petition that there have been a series of engagements with stakeholders to avert any action that would disrupt the peaceful working environment and negatively affect productivity.
As a result, a meeting was organised by the acting general manager with the workforce to calm employees down and encourage them to refrain from any action that would contravene the rules of engagement and also affect operations.
STANDING NEGOTIATION COMMITTEE
On October 20, 2023, management of the mine stated that the Standing Negotiation Committee (SNC) meeting between the mine and the General Manufacturing and Metal Workers Union (GMGWU) was reconvened in the Accra office to align parties with actions taken by management to address employees’ concerns and find the way forward.
At the meeting, management explained that it was emphasised that under no circumstances should any union executives allow themselves to be heckled and used by a section of employees to undertake an industrial action that would undermine the efforts of the parties.
Management asserted that the leadership shall not only be blamed but held responsible should they fail to comply with the processes, as stipulated by the Labour Act 2002, Act 651, the company’s disciplinary policy, and collective agreement.
PROGRESS
Management concedes that even though not all the key concerns raised by the employees in their petitions have been addressed, it is evidently clear that deliberate actions have been taken to progressively address the remaining issues.
