Unionist slams managements

Ho, May 18, GNA - Mr Gordon Bodza, Volta Regional Industrial Relations Officer of the Public Services Workers Union (PSWU) on Thursday expressed reservations about the tendency among managements to keep sections in Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) on workers rights and entitlements to their breast but brandish those that deal with sanctions.

He said managements appeared no longer keen on giving workers individual copies of CBAs. Mr Bodza who was addressing a general meeting of the Ho Branch of the PSWU in Ho urged representatives of workers at all levels to strive to make copies to their CBAs available to their workers, even if it was one copy for every office.

He also lashed at divisions of the PSWU, which willfully or as an oversight withhold funds, meant for union organizational works, to their branch and local unions and commended the PSWU divisions of the Internal Revenue and the Statistical services for providing some funding to their branch and local unions all over the country.

Mr Bodza explained that funds released to the divisions by the national office were meant to cater for union programmes at all levels. The meeting discussed the March 2007 PSWU National Executive Council (NEC) meeting decision to reorganize branch and local unions to become more responsive to union programmes.

In reaction to a comment by Mr Felix Adjasoo, representing Land Valuation Board Local Union, that union meetings be held during afternoon recesses to avoid negating efforts to raise national productivity, Mr Bodza said meetings were planned carefully not to disturb work schedules of member organizations.

He expressed disappointment at deliberate attempts by some managements to prevent union representatives of their employees from attending meetings by sometimes hiding invitation letters from them. The meeting elected a new executive for the next four years with Mr Emmanuel Kofi Adzaki, of the Land Valuation Board as Chairman, Bright Acheampong, GBC Local Branch as First-Vice Chairman and Mrs Beatrice Abbey, Representing the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) as Second Vice-Chairperson. Miss Patience Amewode, of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) local union was elected secretary, Mr Lance Apawodia, GBC, assistant secretary, while Miss Elizabeth Normanyo and Mr Jordan Dzikunu were elected First and Second trustees respectively.