Carol Annan, Managing Director of Ghanaian Times
The supposed tension between staff and the management of state-owned New Times Corporation, publishers of Ghanaian Times, is heightening.
The staff are accusing the Managing Director Carol Annang and some top management members of alleged neglect as well as not putting in much effort to turn around the fortunes of the corporation.
They claim a top management member is combining the positions of Administrative Manager, Human Resource Manager and Corporate Planning Manager and also acts in the MD’s absence; hence they describe the situation as ‘strange’.
“There is no chief accountant for the past four years to monitor revenue inflows,” the concerned staff claimed and said the MD acted several years as the chief accountant and as a result the board allegedly found it difficult to employ a substantive chief accountant, adding “even as of now, the MD is the Purchases Manager and we have concerns over how the procurement laws are being applied”.
They claimed management had placed a time-checking machine at the entrance of the corporation to track attendance but some of the members in management were not subjecting themselves to the same standards they had set.
They also said that medical expenses refunds, leave allowances and back pay since 2017 had not been paid to some staff members.
“Medical facilities like 37 Military Hospital are now turning away workers seeking medical attention because the corporation owes a lot and does not want to pay.
In September last year, the staff embarked on an internal demonstration over some of the issues raised but the board of NTC described it as ‘unfortunate’ and ‘unwarranted’.
The board’s argument was that “neither the board nor the management has failed or refused to engage with the workers through the union representatives to find solutions to the issues or concerns being raised”.
“As a matter of fact, the negotiations are ongoing between management and leaders of the union. It is therefore unfortunate that whilst negotiations are ongoing, the workers are resorting to a strike action without any notice to management as required by the Labour Act. The board of directors wishes to reiterate its commitment to ensuring a cordial working environment. The board further wishes to state that it has full confidence in the management of New Times Corporation in resolving the matter,” the board explained.
The board called on the leaders of the union “to use the required processes to resolve the issues raised instead of resorting to industrial action.”
A Daily Guide Report