Management of the Ghana Textile Manufacturing Company Limited (GTMC) has temporarily closed down the factory following disturbances by a section of the workforce believed to be supporters of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) of the Trades Union Congress. All the workers are to re-apply.
About 200 workers of the company on Wednesday defied a downpour and locked out their management personnel for several hours to prevent them from negotiating for an alleged collective bargaining agreement. The timely intervention of the police, however, saved the management personnel from being brutalised by the workers who had locked the main gate of the factory to prevent any official from leaving. The affected management personnel included the Managing Director, his deputy, Director of Administration, Personnel Manager and Production Manager.
Mr. Stephen Pao, Deputy Managing Director of GTMC said the factory will remain closed until a disputed among the workers as to whether they should be members of the ICU or the Textile, Garment and Leather Employees Union (TEGLEU), is resolved.
Mr. Pao, head of three-member management delegation, was briefing the Tema Municipal Chief Executive, Nii Armah Ashietey yesterday about the disturbances at the factory last Wednesday. Mr. Pao explained that management took the decision because of the threat of life and property.
The entire GTMC workers initially belonged to the ICU but later joined TGLEU which has since held the bargaining certificate to the negotiation with GTMC management on workers collective agreement which is currently due to renewal .
A section of workers are fighting hard to rejoin the ICU. According to Miss P.C. Pao, Managing Director of the company, negotiations for the agreement should have taken place on Tuesday June 10 but this could not come on because of the impasse between the two groups. She said on Wednesday, an official of TGLEU visited GTMC to find out the next date for the negotiations.
She said rumours however went round among the workers that management had concluded negotiations and signed a new collective bargaining agreement with TGLEU and this sparked off the disturbances. Graphic
