Dep. Employment Minister must go! CLOGSAG demands but...

Striking members of the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) want Deputy Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Antwi-Boasaiko Sekyere, sacked.

They accused the minister of exhibiting "incompetence" in handling their concerns over the years.

CLOGSSAG members have been on strike since Monday, demanding improved conditions of service after their migration onto the new pay policy.

At a press conference on Friday, Executive Secretary of CLOGSAG, Isaac Bampoe Addo, also accused the minister of intimidating striking members of the association.

“From reliable sources, Hon. Antwi-Boasaiko Sekyere was threatening CLOGSAG members on strike,” Mr.Bampoe Addo alleged as he challenged him to be more concerned about his “inability” to resolve their issues.

The CLOGSAG Executive Secretary further claimed the deputy minister should have been in a position to advise the ministers in order to deal with the issue with ease, having worked under four different ministers.

Mr. Bampoe Addo suspected that Mr. Antwi-Bosiako was not acting to their expectation probably because “he thrives on confusion and chaos”.

According to him, if the deputy minister is “not pretending then he has exhibited short memory” in addressing CLOGSAG’s problems.

However, Mr. Antwi-Bosiako told Joy News that the outburst of CLOGSAG was “really most unfortunate” and cautioned them against sidelining the issue at stake and resorting to calling for his dismissal.

He claimed members of CLOGSAG were picking on him having noticed that “ I am exposing the lies they are doing” and, therefore, insisted that the numerous allegations put out by the association were false.

The deputy minister also advised striking CLOGSAG members to stop their whining since that could not get them any result but rather “sharpen their argumentative skills at the negotiation table".

The deputy minister also denied intimidating CLOGSAG members as he acknowledged that the labour law guarantees them the right to engage in strike actions.

He, therefore, encouraged them to engage on key issues.

Mr. Antwi-Bosiako recalled that in 2010, the then sector minister formed a committee to resolve CLOGSAG issues, which he chaired, “but when they saw the issue was clearly against them, they left” the committee.

He further noted that members of the association went to the National Labour Commission (NLC) again, and when they realized defeat was starring at them, they withdrew; accusing the Commission of bias.

They later beseeched the National Security for succour, but the odd still appears not to favour them, he asserted.

He was emphatic that the Ministry for Employment and Labour Relations could in no way increase the wages of CLOGSAG members from what they are receiving as he charged them to direct their concerns at the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission.