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The General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers’ Union of Trade Union Congress (TUC) has vehemently opposed the 25 percent increase in the prices of petroleum products.
Fuel prices at the pumps had gone up by between 22 percent and 27 percent following the passage of the Energy Sector Levy (ESL) by Parliament in December 2015.
The levy, according to them, was rushed through parliament without any meaningful deliberations by the people’s representatives or wide public consultations.
Even though a barrel of crude oil on the world market is hovering around $38, consumers in Ghana now pay about GH¢15 for a gallon of petrol which many say is unreasonable.
Fuseini Iddrisu, General Secretary of the Union, in statement, demanded a withdrawal of the so-called Energy Sector Levy without further delay.
He said the new fuel price, if not reversed, would aggravate the hash economic conditions in Ghana.
“It is obvious that the new fuel price levels would aggravate the already hash economic conditions that the working people of Ghana currently facing not least the increases in utility prices visited upon Ghanaians before the Christmas holidays.
“As already demanded by leaders of the Organized Labour, we call for an immediate reduction in the prices of the utilities,” Iddrisu said.
He opined that the increment in the prices of petroleum products was not transparent.
“We will work with Organized Labour and TUC to ensure that these unjustifiable and burdensome government policies are reversed,” Iddrisu said.
By Cephas Larbi
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