The president of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwifery Association (GRNMA), Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo says the union will not rescind its intended industrial action because Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) does not seem to take their concerns seriously.
GRNMA under its mother umbrella, organised labour called SSNIT to called halt its intended decision to sale 60% of its stake in four hotels to Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong's Rock City Hotel.
SSNIT refusal to hid labour union calls forced the union to lay down its tools effective July 15.
According to the Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Dr Yaw Baah, the Union does not understand why the NPRA would allow SSNIT to proceed with the deal without further engagement after it initially ordered SSNIT to halt the procedure.
Bryan Acheampong's Rock City Hotel had withdrawn its bid to buy the hotels. The hotel management said it not appreciate the negative publicity it has attracted since the sale.
Subsequently, a statement from SSNIT issued just before midnight of Friday, July 12, indicated the SSNIT had halted its intended sale to Ghana's Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong.
The brief statement signed by the Board Chair of SSNIT, Elizabeth Ohene, who had previously defended the deal, said the process has been terminated.
SSNIT assured pensioners, contributors and the public of "its commitment to managing the affairs of the Trust prudently for the sustainability of the pension scheme."
Madam Ofori-Ampofo said her outfit was not impressed with SSNIT's decision.
She argued that organised labour had consistently called for engagement, yet SSNIT had refused to heed their call.
Madam Ofori-Ampofo said that, if anything, SSNIT should have called a press conference to communicate its decision regarding the deals rather than the approach adopted.
She stressed that “I am not seeing any seriousness from the board of SSNIT. They are not taking us seriously. In this era of AI and technological what shows that what is flying is real?
“SSNIT cannot use just this medium to just churn out information. What they could have done was to hold a press conference, issue it and give copies to the media or put it on their letter head and duly sign it.
“They could have also written to organised labour to say that we have heard your cry, this is the decision we have taken. Going forward we want to engage with you to ensure that we find strategies."
Credit: Connielove Mawutornyo Dzodzegbe