Sekyere West disassociate itself from TUC demonstration

Mampong (Ash), Sept 24, GNA- Civil servants in the Sekyere West district have dissociated themselves from the stand taken by the forum of organised labour in relation to its proposed demonstration in protest against deductions from workers contribution to the SSNIT.

The decision was the outcome of a meeting of civil servants in the district on the NHIS held at Asante-Mampong on Tuesday.

They observed that the government's decision to utilise the two-and-half percent of workers' contribution to support the NHIS was a laudable one and urged the government to go ahead and implement it.

The meeting observed that the scheme if implemented will, to a large extent, help to address the problem where most Ghanaians have lost their loved ones due to people's inability to meet hospital expenses. The members described the call for the demonstration as improper, saying, the TUC executives had failed to consult extensively with its members before its proposed demonstration.

The meeting urged TUC executive members to render accounts on workers' contribution towards the established Labour Enterprise Trust (LET) for which they had failed to do for the past five years before asking its members to demonstrate on the NHIS.

Members observed with shock and dismay that the TUC executives had overlooked the "reckless investment made by Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) with workers contributions and had rather drew its member's attention to an important issue affecting the welfare of workers".

They called on TUC to hold in faith the government's statement that the use of the two-and-half percent of workers contribution from SSNIT will not affect retirement benefits of workers. They also implored the TUC to offer credible alternatives to the government's proposals on the NHIS.