Injunction forces Public Services Workers to abandon picket at TV3; converge at TUC

Members of the Public Services Workers Union (PWSU) were on Tuesday forced to picket at the Trade Union Congress in Accra following an injunction order secured by management of the Kanda-based television station, TV3 on the planned exercise.

Some dismissed staff of the company and other members of the PWSU late last week hinted of a decision to picket at the premises of the Kanda-based television station in protest of what they termed 'unlawful' dismissals of some 32 workers. The 32 were sacked for allegedly breaching the ethics and legal requirements regarding their employer/employee relationship by allegedly embarking on a 'demonstration' over allowances and emoluments.

According to the workers, they were sacked after demanding better working conditions of service over their low salaries. But management of TV3 insists the dismissed staff took part in a series of 'illegal' actions spanning a week without serving notice of their intentions to management and without providing management with an opportunity to address their grievances.

There was heavy security presence at the TV3 premises Tuesday morning as policemen and soldiers armed with weapons converged there to prevent the possibility of a protest following the court order. The protesters, despite this move, refused to abandon their planned action as they converged at the offices of the Trades Union Congress subsequently to demand the reinstatement of the 32 dismissed workers.