The employees of the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) are demanding the resignation of 27 retirees who hold the highest positions, claiming they have exhausted their resources.
The employees urge the government to remove these retirees from their positions in order to make room for a group of young, motivated employees to lead VALCO.
VALCO is not a place for the pouring of libations, according to Mr. Edgar Tetteh, the local chairman of the VALCO Workers Union.
According to Mr. Tetteh, these retirees lack the necessary documentation to prove their re-employment, necessitating their prompt removal from office.
These retirees, according to the local chairman of the VALCO Workers Union in Tema, are between the ages of 64 and 68, meaning they are older than the minimum age requirement for pensions.
“VALCO is not a place for the pouring of libation or old age. We’ve had enough from the retirees because they have overstayed their positions. They have now become a burden, they have taken most positions meant for up-and-coming staff. They don’t recognize human resources, they should leave us to work. The head of HR, head of ICT, head of logistics, head of maintenance amongst others are all retirees. They don’t have any documents indicating that they have been re-employed. We are about 500-600 staff seeking the removal of 27 staff, they are a burden to us,” Mr. Tetteh explained
While the other set of agitating employees continued to work, a portion of them embarked on a 5-hour walkout to make their demands, which included compensation issues, known.
Mr. Tetteh said, “we believe our message has been carried across to the highest authorities”.
He announced that the facility had been shut down and said that they would keep fighting until these “spent forces” were removed from their positions.
Adam Ibrahim
Adam is passionate about politics and issues that affect governance. As a writer, he channels his energies into writing on pertinent national and political issues for the good of the Ghanaian people.