VALCO stops aluminium production due to worker uproar for dollar equivalent salary

The Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO), a subsidiary of Kaiser Aluminium operating from Ghana, has halted its operations due to the ongoing dispute among workers for a salary bar adjusted with the dollar rate.

The VALCO workers are now entitled to salaries in dollars but are paid in equation with the Ghanaian cedi currency. Since the cedi has recently lost its value compared to the dollar, the workers are hoping for reimbursement following the American currency chart.

The argument the workers have put forth is straightforward and justified as most of them claim that their salaries are subsequently decreasing in value and they are not being paid what is due.

Under the Integrated Aluminium Industry (IAI) in Ghana, VALCO has opened the market for intense development in both upstream and downstream aluminium sectors. The downstream industry is where aluminium sheets or rolls are produced to be used in the automotive or aviation industries and the construction sector.

Downstream aluminium items created by VALCO flow down to the other essential end-user areas where the malleable metal is converted into aluminium cables or conductors for the electric-power sector, aluminium roofs or claddings for construction purposes and containers or cans for the food and beverage industry.

The regional Chairman of the VALCO workers union, Edgar Tetteh, seemed extremely agitated as he displayed his frustration in saying; he wishes the management of VALCO to answer the doubts of the workers as soon as possible.

"We went to the table last year for negotiation. It is prudent for management to look out for the best compensation package for workers. We agreed that we are going to adapt restoration by indexation as the best compensation package for us, but management sang a new song saying it was a no-go area and that we are disturbing," Edgar Tetteh officially made the above statement. 

Moreover, Tetteh seemed positive about the company's contributions to the growing economy and desperately urged the management to pay heed to the unavoidable situation of the workers, who slag all day for a meagre amount.

Some workers who seemed comfortable confining to reporters said: "All we are asking for is for the company to restore us with the difference in the dollar rate from September 2021 till now."

The workers claim that the US$300 per month salary being allotted now compared with the cedi rate chart has remained the same since the previous year.

"Management has shown bad faith because they made us aware that they were going to restore us, and that is why we have this scuffle because you can assure someone, and when it is time, you begin to assign all manner of excuses", another worker exclaimed.

It is also rumoured that the discrepancy is due to the company's salaried posting of 28 retirees. It is now time for the company to disregard them, as was denoted by some of the workers.