UNICOF has subsequently served notice to embark on a strike next week to press home their demands if there is no appropriate response to their concerns.
The Union said that GCB has failed to respect its mandate as well as its right to function independently.
According to the UNICOF, GCB Bnk has ceased the remission of membership subscription fees and has refused to recognize representatives of the National Union.
In an interview with Citi Business News, the General Secretary of UNICOF, John Esiape said the bank must comply with the stipulated labour laws to prevent any damning consequence
‘’What GCB has decided is that they will not obey the instruction we have given in accordance with section 111 of the labour law and deduct dues from our members; the same law says when you deduct such dues, you must remit the union within a month and other agencies including the GTUC,’’ he said.
But the union is arguing that GCB is calling the bluff of the Trades Union Congress and the mother union.
‘’If we should allow this to stand, no union will survive in this country and we will go back to the bad old days’’ Mr Esiape warned.
He told Citi Business News that “the decisions of management not to recognize the Union’s representatives is tantamount to a declaration of war’’ Mr Esiape added that the current happenings at GCB Bank must be of concern to all Ghanaians as ‘’We are likely to go the way that Merchant Bank did and we appear to be at that junction’’
GCB Response
GCB Bank when contacted by Citi Business News said it will not respond to the matter immediately. Howeber Citi Business News has sighted a letter from the Bank to UNICOF, signed by the bank’s Head of Human Resources, Francis Danyi, dated 4th February 2015, asking the union to resolve its issues with electing new members following the abortive delegates conference last year.
Labour Consultant View
Labour Consultant Austin Gammey wants the management of GCB to seek an expert view on the way forward or proceed to the law courts for redress.
‘’This is not a legalistic issue, it’s an industrial relations matter so they should seek an expert view or if they could go to the law court to seek help and not create a problem that could derail the workings of the bank’’
Mr Gammey is of the view that management of GCB have gone into section 128 of the labour act which prohibits employers from interfering in the formation of unions. He says both management and the union must make every reasonable effort to address all outstanding differences. Citi/African Eye News.com