Government has secured an ex parte application from the court ordering the twelve striking labour unions to return to work.
The unions announced a nationwide strike on October 22 to protest what they say is government’s failure to pay public sector workers their tier two pension funds into a private trustee account.
Government subsequently sued the unions with the view of having the court compel the unions to end the strike as well as seek interpretation of the Labour Act.
A former Minister of Employment and Social Welfare under the New Patriotic Party(NPP) administration, Nana Akomea had predicted that the case will backfire.
But sources in government have disclosed that the injunction was granted by the court on Friday afternoon.
The Chief Executive Officer of the National Pensions Regulatory Commission (NPRA) Laud Senanu on Thursday disclosed that funds accrued under the tier two pension scheme has increased to about GHc1.6 billion.
He indicated that the figure comprises contributions from both the public and private sector workers.
These monies he said “…are invested in treasury bills and so far the Treasury bills have yielded quite a substantial interest.”
According to Laud Senanu, the tier two contributions of public workers are held in the Temporary Pension Fund Account (TPFA) at the Bank of Ghana.
“The NPRA has had to freeze all schemes until the misunderstanding between the workers and government is resolved,” he stated.
Credit: citifmonline