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BUSINESS NEWS
UNEASY FEELINGS AMONG MAERSK WORKERS LIKELY TO EXPLODE SOON
December 18, 2009
Accra
Workers of Maersk Ghana Limited are getting impatient with the Management of the company and are therefore preparing themselves for a head on collision with management next week.
The likely collision follows the sudden turn around by the Managing Director of the company, Mr Jeff Garciniak not to give the green light to the Chief Labour Officer for the issuance of a Collective Bargaining Certificate (CBC) to the Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance Workers (UNICOF), when all due process had been followed.
The workers have therefore given themselves up to Monday December 21, 2009 for management to come out with a more positive response or they would advise themselves accordingly as they see this as infringement on their constitutional rights of freedom of association and to join the union of their choice.
In a tip-off, company insiders intimated that the workers were getting irritated with the MD’s sudden renege on an almost concluded unionization of workers and that they could not agree to the Mr Garciniak’s utterance that the union would have the CBC over his “dead body”. In that line, the MD was alleged to be meeting various sections of the workers to convince them not to unionize, but the workers have refused to back down.
The inside source hinted that some management members were against the MD’s action, particularly regarding the clear implications of such an action, especially in this yuletide.
Industry watchers said the attitude of the Mr Garciniak was worrisome considering the fact that even a few hours of work interruption by workers of the company would cause a big blow to the shipping industry particularly for importers bringing goods into the country for the yuletide season. Already a few importers who have heard of this are lamenting the effect of any strike will have on their businesses.
Meanwhile UNICOF sources say the union is also bewildered by the attitude of the MD and that they expect more of him as the country top man of such an immense international company. The Deputy General Secretary, UNICOF, Mr John Esiape confirmed the story but said the union was working for a peaceful resolution of the problem but would not rule out any option including strike action.
He disclosed that the union was closely watching whether the Chief Labour Officer would act with dispatch to uphold the fundamental human rights of the workers as enshrined in the constitution or look on as Mr Garciniak and his management team thwart the unionization of workers of the company.
The world’s largest container shipping line, Maersk, has three country offices in Ghana, namely Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi with employing approximately 300 highly skilled professionals. The Danish company, with headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark started operations in the country in 1991 though it got involved in the Ghanaian shipping sector in the 1950s. The company’s activities in Ghana are centered mainly on shipping, trucking, terminal operations as well as providing total logistics services. Globally, the Maersk Line fleet comprises more than 500 vessels and a number of containers corresponding to more than 1,900,000 Twenty foot long containers, which makes it number one in the world. END
credit: Anextra Agency news
December 18, 2009
Accra
Workers of Maersk Ghana Limited are getting impatient with the Management of the company and are therefore preparing themselves for a head on collision with management next week.
The likely collision follows the sudden turn around by the Managing Director of the company, Mr Jeff Garciniak not to give the green light to the Chief Labour Officer for the issuance of a Collective Bargaining Certificate (CBC) to the Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance Workers (UNICOF), when all due process had been followed.
The workers have therefore given themselves up to Monday December 21, 2009 for management to come out with a more positive response or they would advise themselves accordingly as they see this as infringement on their constitutional rights of freedom of association and to join the union of their choice.
In a tip-off, company insiders intimated that the workers were getting irritated with the MD’s sudden renege on an almost concluded unionization of workers and that they could not agree to the Mr Garciniak’s utterance that the union would have the CBC over his “dead body”. In that line, the MD was alleged to be meeting various sections of the workers to convince them not to unionize, but the workers have refused to back down.
The inside source hinted that some management members were against the MD’s action, particularly regarding the clear implications of such an action, especially in this yuletide.
Industry watchers said the attitude of the Mr Garciniak was worrisome considering the fact that even a few hours of work interruption by workers of the company would cause a big blow to the shipping industry particularly for importers bringing goods into the country for the yuletide season. Already a few importers who have heard of this are lamenting the effect of any strike will have on their businesses.
Meanwhile UNICOF sources say the union is also bewildered by the attitude of the MD and that they expect more of him as the country top man of such an immense international company. The Deputy General Secretary, UNICOF, Mr John Esiape confirmed the story but said the union was working for a peaceful resolution of the problem but would not rule out any option including strike action.
He disclosed that the union was closely watching whether the Chief Labour Officer would act with dispatch to uphold the fundamental human rights of the workers as enshrined in the constitution or look on as Mr Garciniak and his management team thwart the unionization of workers of the company.
The world’s largest container shipping line, Maersk, has three country offices in Ghana, namely Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi with employing approximately 300 highly skilled professionals. The Danish company, with headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark started operations in the country in 1991 though it got involved in the Ghanaian shipping sector in the 1950s. The company’s activities in Ghana are centered mainly on shipping, trucking, terminal operations as well as providing total logistics services. Globally, the Maersk Line fleet comprises more than 500 vessels and a number of containers corresponding to more than 1,900,000 Twenty foot long containers, which makes it number one in the world. END
credit: Anextra Agency news
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