Ashanti Region: Workers at Akroma Mining stage sit-down strike over poor conditions

Around 750 employees of the Akroma Mining Company, situated in Esaase within the Kwawu West Municipality of the Ashanti Region, have initiated a sit-down strike to protest against what they describe as poor conditions of service.

The disgruntled staff is urging for an increase in the cost of living allowance (COLA) and insisting that management fulfills its obligation to pay their Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).

In addition to these demands, the workers are seeking augmentation of their canteen fee and are advocating for salaries to be disbursed through formal channels, utilizing banking systems.

The workers carried placards that read: “No more tabletop payment,” “Some people have not been paid their SSNIT,” “Give us appointment letters” and “Our transportation system is poor.”

Others are: “Our canteen services are also poor,” and “Since 2018, we have been given GHS15 for breakfast and 10 Ghana Cedis for lunch”.

Employees were given contracts that agreed that “We must be given food,” one of the workers stated while speaking on Accra 100.5 FM's mid-day news on Monday, November 13, 2023.

The workers, expressing their frustration, asserted that if the company fails to address their concerns, they will not resume their duties.

The Human Resource Manager, Fredrick Obeng Somuah, appealed to the workers for patience, assuring them that the management would promptly engage in discussions to resolve the issues.

“We all need to exercise patience and discuss this amicably as management and workers to discuss and find a solution to the problem".

“I am confident and optimistic that within the next few hours or the next few minutes, there will be a solution to the problem,” he assured the aggrieved workers.