Augustine Saakuur Karbo, General Secretary of the Teachers and Educational Workers Union, TEWU, has lauded the collective efforts of the 12 labour unions that ensured the eventual release of Tier-2 Pension Funds to the various workers unions and associations by government.
He also commended government for transferring more than GH¢3 billion to the workers unions to be managed by their various registered pension schemes.
However, Mr Karbo denied reports that TEWU is not a beneficiary of the Tier-2 pension funds.
He said some people want to sow seeds of discord among TEWU members and portray its national leadership as unresponsive to the plight of its members.
In an interview, Mr Karbo said that communications about the release of the Tier-2 Pension funds had portrayed TEWU as not part of the beneficiary unions.
“The Tier-2 has been released but the publication is such that TEWU was not mentioned in the list of the 12 labour unions which were in the struggle right from 2013 to date where the funds have finally been released. TEWU is part of the Ghana Education Service Occupational Pension Scheme, which includes NAGRAT, GNAT and CCT. I think it is appropriate to set the records straight that TEWU is a beneficiary of the more than three billion Ghana cedis transferred by the government to the workers unions,” he stated.
He commended members of TEWU and Ghanaian workers in general for showing high level of resilience to compel the government to release the Tier-2 Pension to the various unions.
“We are hopeful the various schemes, trustees or board will ensure that the funds are invested in the various instruments to yield good dividends so that workers who will go on retirement in 2020 can enjoy better pension.
“I wish to reiterate that the GES occupational Fund is well-structured and well managed and as the largest so far, there is a lot of attention on us and our members’ expectations are so high that we cannot fail to meet those expectations. We are working close with our service providers to maximise the returns on the Tier-2 pension funds for the benefit of our members.”
By Samuel Boadi