GRCL is collapsing, SSNIT contributions have not been paid from October till date – Union

The Ghana Railways Workers Union has demanded that their three-month salary arrears, as well as over a year’s worth of unpaid SSNIT and Tier-2 contributions, be paid.

Godwill Ntarmah, General Secretary of the Railway Workers Union, stated at a press conference in Takoradi that life has become very difficult for railway workers due to operational challenges that have rendered the company heavily indebted.

He told journalists that their current request is to meet with the president of the Republic to discuss the challenges they face.

However, efforts to meet with the president to discuss the issues raised have been futile.

He lamented that SSNIT had also taken the company to court because SSNIT contributions for workers were late from October 2022 to the present.

He also stated that, given the company’s current challenges, it is impossible for it to generate funds to sustain itself.

“The Ghana Railway Company Limited (GRCL), a fully state-owned company of the Republic of Ghana with no shareholders and a staff strength of over one thousand workers, is facing serious challenges operating on the existing narrow gauge rail line, which is in a very bad state, coupled with the old and aged rolling stock, resulting in a series of derailments every now and then,” he said.

“As we speak, salaries go into three or four months’ arrears before some efforts are made to effect some payments. Again, SSNIT payments are in arrears from October 2022 to date, which has compelled SSNIT to take GRCL to court to enforce payments. The company is owing GCB Bank millions of cedis, while workers’ Tier 2 payments have also not been settled since May 2022 to date.”

“Workers’ own deductions to their various credit unions, such as GPHA Credit Union and RUCOMAS, have not been paid since September 2021. Another issue of great concern to us is the determination of the fate of the GRCL retrenched staff of 2006, which needs to be addressed by the government,” Mr. Ntarmah added.