Volta Star workers close down factory
Workers of the Volta Star Textiles Limited at Juapong have forcibly closed down the factory to press home their demand for the payment of their salary arrears.
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They ignored all proposals by the board, management and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and insisted that they would not re-open the factory until President John Mahama visited the place.
The 1,300 workforce at the factory, formerly known as Juapong Textiles Limited, took the action yesterday as a form of protest against the non-payment of their nine months’ salary arrears, amounting to GH¢3.6 million.
Apart from the company’s inability to pay the salaries of its workers for nine months, it is also saddled with unpaid bills to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Textile Printing Company in Tema.
Proposals rejected
According to the Chairman of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the company, Mr John Akowuah, all efforts to meet the workers to dialogue on the issue had been unsuccessful.
He said proposals to pay the full salary from October and 10 per cent of the arrears every month had been rejected by the workers.
The IMC chairman said he was heckled when he visited the factory premises.
He said the workers had blocked the main gate and he was only allowed into the main yard through a small back gate.
Background
On April 22 this year, the factory was closed down due to the non-payment of electricity bill of GHc1,940,000.
That compelled the workers who had not also been paid for months to be sent home.
Power was restored through the intervention of the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, with the plea that the factory was a lifeline of the people, many of whom depended on it for their livelihood.
The IMC sought a bailout from the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF) to resolve the issue of salary arrears but it did not yield the expected results.
Following the development, the patience of the workers started running out leading to the closure of the factory by them yesterday.