TWU gives ultimatum over divestiture of WVLC

The Timber and Woodworkers Union (TWU) of the TUC has given a two-week ultimatum up to November 15, to settle issues involving severance awards to the employees of the Sekondi-Takoradi based Western Veneer and Lumber Company (WVLC), which is being divested by the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC) to ASD Lumber (Ghana) Limited. The Union insisted that every pesewa of severance pay due the workers were negotiated and settled before any investor would be allowed entry into the factory. In a statement issued in Accra and signed by Mr Joshua Ansah, General Secretary of TWU, the Union said it was amazed at the manner in which the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines and the DIC were handling this crucial issue which affected the very lives of 700 workers of the company and their families. The Union expressed regret that the Ministry and the DIC were not prepared to arrange a stakeholders' meeting to discuss the issue. The statement said if had come to the notice of the Union that the DIC had secretly directed the Managing Director to inform the employees that their status with the company ended in November this year. The Union said as far as the divestiture of the WVLC was concerned, the whole process should be transparent to the satisfaction of all concerned in accordance with Section 65 of the Labour Act 651 of 2003. "We shall go all out to resist this daylight robbery when the rule of law is now fully operational in the country," the statement warned.