Organised Labour has received praise from Morgan Ayawine, General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU), for their stance on the 15% Value Added Tax (VAT) on energy for residential customers.
According to Mr. Ayawine, organized labor has won when the government decided to halt the divisive tax policy in response to opposition.
In an interview with Adom News, he said that despite Ghanaians’ current financial difficulties, the government would have forced the VAT down their throats if it weren’t for the opposition from Organized Labour.
He pointed out that despite the fact that Organized Labour preferred a complete withdrawal over a suspension, they were able to buy time for significant stakeholder involvement.
The Ministry notified Organised Labour in a letter dated Thursday, February 8 that it has directed NEDCO and the Electricity Company of Ghana to stop implementing the contentious policy.
The government has instructed NEDCO and ECG to halt the residential customer power consumption tax until after they have had more conversations with important parties, such as Organized Labor.
In response to calls for a massive protest on February 13th, the government last week declared that the tax would be suspended.
But if the government doesn’t quickly reverse the policy completely, Dr. Yaw Baah, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), has issued a warning that the rally will still go ahead.
It was emphasized by Dr. Baah that Organized Labour will not hold back while opposing any future unfair tax laws.
