Labour unions have given the Ministry of Finance and the Controller and Accountant General a one-week ultimatum to transfer all their deducted funds to the designated institutions or face possible industrial disruptions.
The unions say since June 2023, government has failed to credit their Tier-2 Pensions and SSNIT contributions to the various trust boards.
Similarly, other third-party contributions have not been transferred to the relevant unions since December, 2023.
“Every month, workers pay dues to their unions and also deductions for their Tier-2 Pensions and other third-party contributions like loans to the banks. These deductions are made from salaries of workers. Unfortunately, when the Controller and Accountant General makes these deductions, they fail to regularly and timely transmit the deducted money to the designated institutions,” they said.
According to the President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Angel Carbonu, “the last time payment made to the various Tier-2 Trust was in June 2023.”
“So, it means that though the government has deducted the monies from the workers’ salaries, they have failed to pay to the various Trust Boards,” he added during an interview with 3news.
The labour unions fear if the trend continues, people who retire may be denied the right compensation and some may not get their pensions altogether.
Angel Carbonu further stated that there could be a deliberate attempt by the powers that be to stifle the operations of the various unions.
“The last time government transferred deducted dues and other third-party deductions to the various unions was in December 2023. The bigger question is, where are these monies that have been deducted lodged? Who or what accounts are the workers’ monies being kept and for what purpose?” he quizzed.
One-week ultimatum
The Ministry of Finance and the Controller and Accountant General have been handed a deadline of Friday, April 26, 2024 to ensure that all the deducted funds are duly credited at the various institutions.
“We give the Ministry of Finance and the Controller and Accountant General one week to transfer all these deducted funds to their legitimate organisations. Failure to do that, the unions cannot be blamed for any industrial disruptions.”
“The Ministry of Finance and its agency, the Controller and Accountant General Department should come clear and explain,” Mr. Carbonu demanded.