Workers of private security firm, G7 Security System, serving at the Kumasi Airport have laid down their tools over the non-payment of their salaries for several months.
They are also complaining about poor working conditions at the airport.
The decision by the workers has affected operations at the Airport as construction workers on phase two of the airport project have also not been given access to some parts of the site.
The about 80 workers, who have vacated their post to demonstrate, say aside from not being paid for some time now, checks at the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) revealed that management of the Airport owes them years in arrears of SSNIT contributions.
According to them, they have been forced to use one uniform to work for years since assuming the post.
They have therefore given management of the facility by close of day to address all their grievances as they will only return to post once their grievances have been addressed.
“We have three months arrears of our salary and we are demanding our salary. We are giving them 24 hours. For four years now, we have been working with one uniform, no raincoat, when it’s raining, we work in the rain. We control almost all locations where including the Presidential lodge. We did a demonstration last week and they promised us that by Wednesday they will pay us all the arrears but we got just one month. We want the remaining salary and our SSNIT payments. They’ve not been paying our SSNIT,” one of the aggrieved workers said.
Another worker told Citi News, “Each day you mark us for GHS 22 but if you absent yourself for one day you deduct GHS 50 from our pay and our pay is not even up to GHS 700… The uniform that they gave us when they employed us is the same one we have been using for years now. They see us as nobodies. Even when you are sick and you seek permission, it is complicated.”
Meanwhile, management of the airport and the leadership of the security personnel are in a meeting to discuss the issue.