12 Unions counter-sue govt over pension funds

Victor Kwawukume Nov - 12 - 2014 , 07:06

Twelve labour unions have counter-sued the government, asking the Industrial and Labour Division of the Accra High Court to order it to undertake certain actions in line with the National Pensions Act.

Joined to the suit are the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) and the Bank of Ghana (BoG).

The unions are asking for an order compelling the government to make a full disclosure of the statement of account and records of contributions, including the rates and due dates, in respect of the second-tier mandatory occupational pension scheme from 2010 to date.

Transfers

They are also asking the NPRA to transfer accumulated funds from the Temporary Pensions Fund Account (TPFA), lodged with the BoG, to the various schemes registered under the second-tier pension.

They are further praying for an order requesting the BoG to make a full disclosure of information relating to the full amount by way of remittances by the government, interest accrued, as well as relevant expenses made in respect of the second-tier mandatory occupational pension scheme.

In addition, they are requesting the court to order for the appointment of an independent auditor to audit all accounts relating to the tier-two pension scheme from January 2010 to date and to file the said accounts in court.

The unions made these claims in a counter suit attached to a response to the action brought against them by the government.

The government had instituted a court action against the labour unions that declared an indefinite strike on October 21, 2014 over matters related to the management of the second-tier pension accruals and other related issues.

The government later secured a court ruling that ordered the striking unions to return to work while the substantive case continued.

The unions had since resumed work.

Counter-claims

In their counter-claim, the unions have asked the court to declare as illegal the appointment of the Pensions Alliance Trust by the Ministry of Finance as the sole trustee of the second-tier pension scheme for all employees on the government’s payroll.

They are also asking the Controller and Accountant-General to ensure that monthly deductions under the second tier were paid on time and into the accounts of the respective schemes.

They are further seeking an order for the payment of pecuniary losses occasioned by the government’s failure to pay the monthly remittances in respect of members into the designated BoG accounts, in accordance with Act 766.

The workers are also praying the court to restrain the government from imposing any trustee on them in respect of the second-tier pension scheme.

Responses

In their response, the unions averred that contrary to the claim by the government, there were four striking unions, made up of the Health sector, the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Judicial Service and the Hedge Master Trust, which was a multiple-employer scheme whose membership was open to employees of more than one employer.

These groupings, they said, had formed schemes that had been duly vetted, approved and registered by the NPRA in accordance with Act 766.

The formation of different occupational pension schemes, they said, ensured that contributions would not be locked up with one trustee, introduced diversity in the management of pension funds, provided greater security for workers at the point of retirement and was in the best interest of workers.

Employer-sponsored scheme

To that effect, the unions said, the definition of “employer-sponsored scheme” did not give the power or right to an employer to impose a trust on its employees.

The government’s persistence in alluding to the phrase “employer sponsored” as an indication that same gave it the power to appoint trustees, they claimed, was” ignorant and misguided”.

The demands, they said, were not only backed by law but also in line with recommendations made by a committee set up following a meeting between organised labour and President John Mahama on July 9, 2014.

That committee, the unions said, agreed that in accordance with Act 766 and in line with a Government White Paper on the deregulation of the pension sector in Ghana, multiple trusts/schemes should run the operations of the second-tier occupational pension scheme in the public sector.