Ho: Workers join organised labour demo

A fairly large crowd of organized labour in the Volta Region undertook a street demonstration through some principal streets of Ho as part of protest against the hikes in taxes, levies, utility prices and energy levies.

They held placards with inscriptions such as “Mr President wake up”, “High tariffs are killing us”, “Unbearable economic situation”, “ Mr President give us definite time line for resolving our Dumsor”, “ Accountability should be a must for all”, “IMF bailout is a modern colonialism,”” Mr President workers are truly and holy hungry,” “High utility tariffs , poor service delivery,” “Pensioners are suffering,” and “Reduce the tax burden on workers”.

The demonstrators later converged at the forecourt of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) where the regional secretary of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), Mr Van Lare presented the grievances of the workers to the Chief Director of the VRCC, Mr Ibrahim Al-Hassan.

Mr Van Lare said workers will start picketing at the VRCC if there was no response to their petition after a week, expecting that the demonstration will touch the heart of government.

He said it was abnormal for salaries to have gone up by only 10 per cent against an incredible hike in utility tariffs and businesses were dying gradually.

Mr Van Lare called for the withdrawal of the energy sector Act of 2015 because it was not consistent at a time when crude oil prices were falling on the international market adding that inability to resolve the pertinent issues may result to social instability in the nation.

Receiving the petition, the Chief Director of VRCC, Mr Ibrahim Al-Hassan commended the workers for the orderly and peaceful manner in which they engaged in the demonstration with the assurance that their grievances will be forwarded to the authorities in Accra.