Some workers of the Swedish Machinery and Truck (SMT) Ghana Limited, dealers in Volvo vehicles, are facing unlawful dismissals for deciding to join the General Manufacturing and Metal Workers (GEMM) Union of the Ghana Federation of Labour.
Article 651 of the Labour Act 2003, sub-section 14, which deals with prohibition of restrictive conditions of employment, states that "an employer shall not, in respect of any person seeking employment, or of persons already in his employment: (a) Require that person to form or join a trade union or to refrain from forming or joining union of his or her choice."
According to the workers who spoke with The Chronicle, despite the above law, employees of the Swedish company have been denied the right to join or form a union or association.
One of the employees, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said in July this year, they decided to form a union, and, therefore, applied to join the GEMM of the Ghana Federation of Labour.
He said the process was almost complete, when a labour officer, who was supposed to verify the existence of the company to enable the National Labour Commission issue a certificate to the SMT, rather went to disclose their names to their employees.
They accused the labour officer of taking a bribe from the management and acting irresponsibly.
According to the workers, information reaching them indicates that about 60 workers who wrote their names to join the union would all be sacked, starting with 25 security personnel with the Accra branch.
Even though the Labour Act 2003 further explains the conditions under which a worker contract can be terminated in Article165 subsection 14, letters intended to dismiss the employees had no reason to that effect.
So far, 11 workers, out of the 60 from the Accra and Takoradi SMT branches, have been expelled, while employees at the Kumasi branch are also on the list, waiting to suffer the same fate.
In a telephone interview with the Deputy General Secretary of the GEMM, Mr. Rex Agboalenyo, clearly indicated that the labour officer acted unprofessionally, and also charged him of taking a bribe from the management to disclose the names of the employees.
He said the GEMM had petitioned the National Labour Commission to intervene in the issue.
Efforts by this reporter to reach the management of SMT proved futile. The Director of After-Sales, Mr. Adams Isbir, even though answered the call from this reporter, immediately hung up when the reporter explained her mission to him.