TUC Kicks Against Pension Amendment Rush

Kofi Asamoah, Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), has warned government against the hurried manner in which it wants to amend the Pensions Act without consulting relevant social partners. Mr. Asamoah said the union was unhappy with Government�s decision to pursue the legal case relating to the imposition and called on it to withdraw the matter from court. �The poor living conditions of pensioners in the country, after dedicated service, should not be lost on us�the three-tier pension scheme should work again�this is a noble objective and nothing should undermine our efforts for improved pensions for pensioners,� he emphasised. The TUC General Secretary made this known in a solidarity message read on his behalf by Abu Kuntolu, Executive Secretary of the Health Workers Union, at the opening of the 12th Quadrennial Delegates� Congress of the Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOGSAG) in Cape Coast. He stated that the Union would not relent in its drive to ensure the establishment of the threetier Pensions Scheme becomes a reality to enhance the lives of pensioners. He described the fight for improved pension as noble and urged workers not to allow anything to undermine their efforts in spite of the formative challenges it was facing. Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Haruna Iddrisu, stated that the Pensions Reforms are meant to benefit retirees rather than disadvantage them and therefore encouraged workers not to allow the initial operational and administrative challenges in the management of the Tier- Two pensions to discourage them and think that the Three-Tier could be unattainable. He said government would continue to respect the Act 766 and all other legislations, which would guarantee respectable retirement benefits to all and acknowledged that the unions were justified in their demand for better services after pension.