Intercity/STC Union Gives Its Management One Month Ultimatum

Workers of the Intercity/STC on Monday gave the management of the company one month ultimatum to refund all illegal deductions from the Provident Fund and union dues by the management or face the wrath of workers. In addition �we demand that the unapproved one per cent deductions from the provident fund by the Head of Finance and Administration also be refunded,� Mr. Samuel Korley Clottey, Senior Staff Union Chairman and Mr. Hope Klu, Junior Staff Union Chairman, said in Accra. The two union heads told the GNA in an interview that the Head of Finance and Administration deducted GH₡13,019.67, being one per cent share of the workers Provident Fund, without passing it through laid down procedure. The two union leaders alleged that monies deducted from workers� salaries as Social Security and Trades Union Congress (TUC) dues as well as workers share of the Provident Fund had been used to operate the company even though the workers are not shareholders. They said the Provident Fund had accrued to GH₡932,000.00 which management said they had used to run the operations of the company without informing the workers. The two leaders said from 2009 to 2013, no statement of account on the Provident Fund was provided to the workers and no account was opened for the deduction of the fund. In spite of the challenges, the two STC Union leaders said salaries of the workers were very low and appealed to management to look into it and put them on a scale that would reflect the standard of living in Ghana. They also asked for migration unto the Single Spine Salary Structure. They called on Ghanaians workers to take active interest in the affairs of Intercity/STC because it is their money that had been invested in the company through the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) which holds 80 per cent share and Government 20 per cent. They accused SSNIT of not managing Intercity/STC well in the face of open competition from private transport operators. They said both the government and SSNIT had an obligation to ensure that competent board and management members were put at post that have the interest of the company at heart so that both workers and the economy of Ghana would benefit from the venture. �we are therefore calling for dedicated management team and Board of Directors to transform STC�we have personnel with years of experience�.