Some workers of Gold Fields Ghana Limited at Tarkwa in the Western Region have accused management of the mining company of compelling them to sign letters of redundancy.
They also indicated that some of their colleagues were made to sign fixed term contract.
This was immediately after an Accra High Court ruled in favour of management of the company in a case in which the mine workers were seeking to prevent the mining company from dismissing some of the workers.
The mining company claimed that it’s embarking on an aggressive business option dubbed, “Contract Mining,” hence its decision to lay off over 2,000 workers.
The retrenchment is expected to affect most of its miners at the Tarkwa Mine.
However, the workers claimed the reasons for the impending lay-off were not valid and called on the government to intervene.
The Ghana Mine Workers’ Union of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has opposed the decision by the management of Gold Fields to retrench the workers.
The labour union subsequently took legal action to stop Goldfields from going ahead with the exercise until the determination of the case.
An Accra High Court, however, dismissed an interlocutory application by the Ghana Mine Workers Union which sought to stop a redundancy exercise by the mining giant.
In its ruling on Friday, the Labour Division of the court, presided over by Mrs Justice Laurenda Owusu, held that the mining company would suffer immensely if the court grants the application.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Mine Workers Union has appealed the ruling by the court and the appeal would be heard in the Appeals Court on March 14, 2018.
According to the union, the judge overlooked essential procedural issues that they raised.
“So virtually we disagree with the ruling and for that matter it has major implications for the industrial landscape in our country,” they indicated.
“We have immediately appealed for a stay of execution so that we can get the process revisited in the Appeals court.”
Speaking to journalists at a brief workers durbar at Tarkwa on Saturday, some of the workers claimed military men were brought in allegedly by the management, who forced them to sign the letters.
An excavator operator noted that Friday afternoon the management called all workers and told them that since the court had ruled in favour of the company, it had paved the way for some of the workers to be dismissed and given compensation.
“About 50 elderly workers hurriedly signed but the young ones who are in the majority insisted that we are waiting for what the union leadership will say and so we will not sign the dismissal letters,” he disclosed.
“Later in the evening they called all the workers to gather at the company’s canteen and there some military men came around and locked the doors and insisted that the workers sign the letters and after which they would get onboard a waiting bus to their respective homes.”
He indicated that some of the night workers signed because of the presence of the military.
The General Secretary of the Ghana Mine Workers Union, Prince William Ankrah, noted that the union was not happy with the decision of the judge and so we have filed an appeal.”
Even though the management of Gold Fields had been served, it threatened employees with military personnel.
“Such a practice is outdated. We think that we have come of age and the danger is that if care is not taken worse things can happen. The extent that the issue is going is ugly. Even prior to the ruling there was a military presence here. Does that mean that the ruling was premeditated?” he quizzed.
Mr Ankrah stated that the ruling might set a precedent that would worsen the plight of the workers in the country.
He was of the view that the ruling by the court would encourage other companies to shortchange workers in future.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Tarkwa