Workers of Atlantic Port Services Limited (APS), a stevedoring and haulers’ company in Tema, have demonstrated against what they termed as inhumane treatment meted out to them by the management of the company.
According to the workers, management had refused to pay them their salaries and other benefits due them for the past five months.
The aggrieved workers, who converged on the entrance of the company’s main office at Community 6, Tema, were prevented from entering the compound by about 12 ‘macho men’.
The ‘macho men’ claimed that they were invited by the management of APS for employment.
The leader of the macho men, Somed, refused DAILY GUIDE entry into the compound to speak to the Managing Director (MD) of the company, Jeffrey Kojo Biney.
Isaac Ahenkora, Vice Chairman of the Local Union of APS, told DAILY GUIDE that for about five months now, the MD had refused to pay the workers their salaries and other entitlements such as their Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and allowances.
The situation, he said, was making life very unbearable for the workers.
He pointed out that on several occasions, the MD had been reluctant to disclose the reason the company had not been paying the workers their salaries.
Mr. Ahenkora said the workers’ overtime, night and risk allowances had not been paid either, a reason for which the workers were registering their dissatisfaction with the management by embarking on the demonstration.
He alleged that the MD called in the macho men to man the gate and premises of the head office because he (MD) envisaged that the workers would march to him to protest against the harsh treatment being meted out to them.
Mr. Ahenkora indicated that if the management was unwilling to work with them, all they needed from the company was what was due them.
He entreated the ministries of Trade and Industry and Transport to step in to demand their claims for them.
Dickson Owusu, a driver of the company and a member of the junior staff, on his part said he was ready to hit the streets in pampers if management did not heed the cry of the workers who have been deprived of their salaries for the past five months.
Dickson, aka ‘Papa Shamo’, alleged that the MD was treating the workers unkindly because the MD claimed the labour laws of the country were leaky and that he dared any worker to take him on.
Somed, the leader of the macho men, later threatened to assault any worker who attempted getting close to the main entrance, warning DAILY GUIDE and TV3 reporters to leave the area as, according to him, the presence of the media was getting him peeved.
There were no police personnel at the scene.
From Inusa Musah, Tema
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