Twelve public sector labour unions have threatened to embark on strike if the government failed to pay their tier two pension contributions.
They have given the government up to the end of this month to undertake the payments, without which they would take action.
The aggrieved unions include the Ghana Medical Association, Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) and the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT).
Among other concerns, they say their contributions have been unlawfully held at the Bank of Ghana since 2010, without accruing any interest.
“We have given the government the 31st of July to pay the monies that have been accrued by the Bank of Ghana that is in the temporary pensions account,” says Edmund Acquaye, Public Relations Officer of CLOGSAG.
According to him, since 2010 to 2016, contributors’ money have been kept at the Bank of Ghana which is yielding no interest.
“What we are told is that, interest is on the treasurer bill rate and we think it is in bad faith,” he said, adding that the absence of interest on the money would make contributors worse off in pension.
The idea behind the introduction of the three tier pension is that contributors should have enough money to be able to survive, he explained.
“The union will take a critical action against government if our monies are not paid,” he said,
About three years ago, eight labour unions laid down their tools over the non-payment of the tier two pension contributions to their respective fund managers.
They challenged the Finance Ministry’s decision to use Pension Alliance Trust as a sole trustee of the second tier pension scheme for all employees on government payroll.
Public sector workers in the past embarked on strike.
Last March, the government announced that it had commenced the payment of the tier two pension contributions of public sector workers into their registered schemes.
By Nii Adotey/adrdaily.com
