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The Local Government Workers� Union (LGWU) has asked the Controller and Accountant General�s Department (CAGD) to stop deducting dues from the salaries of its members into what it refers to as the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) Fund. It described the deductions as illegal and as such has directed the CLOGSAG and the CAGD to initiate processes to refund all moneys deducted from the salaries of its members since July 2014 with immediate effect. Communique This was contained in a communique signed by the General Secretary of the LGWU, Mr Joe Boahen, at the union�s National Executive Council Meeting held at the Cocoa College at Bunsu in the Eastern Region. According to the communique, no member of the LGWU has agreed in any way that there should be a deduction to CLOGSAG Fund by the CAGD. It indicated that �the NEC takes a strong exception to information it has received that CLOGSAG has been sending out forms to LGWU members of TUC to fill and renounce their membership of the union�. It said by the instrument that established the Local Government Service, (LGS) of 2003 (Act 656), the LGS was distinct from the Civil Service and by extention local government workers or MMDAs and RCC workers. Support The NEC said in the communique that it was solidly behind the leadership of the LGWU to get all employees of the LGS such as the district coordinating directors, human resource managers, budget and planning officers, among others, to be fully integrated into the fold of the union, adding that �this will enable the LGWU leaders to champion their cause such as working conditions at the Governing Council Meetings of the LGS on which the union is the sole representative of local government workers.� Misrepresentation It levelled a charge of misrepresentation against the Civil Servants Association (CSA) or CLOGSAG for spreading falsehood that the Local Government Workers Union (LGWU) and CLOGSAG had merged. �We wish to emphasise that the Local Government Workers Union has no intention whatsoever to merge with the Civil Servants Association (CSA) or CLOGSAG. We will have no relations with an association founded on deception and which, like a parasitic element, feeds fat on the blood, toil and sweat of others,� the communique said. Distinct identity �We re-emphasise our distinct identity from that of the Civil Servants Association or CLOGSAG. The LGWU of TUC has been the sole organiser of workers in the Local Government Service Structure since the 1960s and our high moral values do not allow us to condone greed, avarice and conceitedness.� It said the NEC would continue to support all proactive programmes of the leadership towards the growth of the union and called on its members to �rise up and expose any attempt by any other workers group engaging or adopting intimidatory tactics or coercion to get LGWU paid up members to fill forms to renounce their membership of the union or risk having their names taken off the controller payroll.�