Staff of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) have suspended their sit-down strike.
The staff were protesting the operational challenges of the company linked to the indebtedness of some companies to GRIDCo.
A joint statement issued by the company said “following a Joint Standing Committee meeting of the Management and Staff Groups of the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo)….the intended sit-down strike action had been suspended.”
The statement also said, “management is committed to closer and regular engagements with the Staff Groups and Stakeholders with the view to resolve all outstanding issues.”
The staff had said they were resorting to the strike due to the non-response by GRIDCo Management and the Energy Ministry over debts owed them by companies such as the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Power Distribution Services (PDS).
Last month, Senior Staff and the Divisional Union of GRIDCo withdrew emergency services over the debt owed them by key organisations in the power sector.
The Senior Staff and the Divisional Union also expressed concern with debt owed the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the Volta Aluminum Company (VALCO) and Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo).
The union says ECG and NEDCo owe about GH¢607 million and GH¢177 million respectively, while VALCO and PDS owe over US$32 million and GH¢94 million respectively.
The GRIDCo staff said they were resorting to the strike “following non-response by GRIDCo Management and the institutions petitioned.”
The group had earlier petitioned the Finance Ministry and ECG to release funds to settle their indebtedness.
The staff had originally threatened to strike on December 4.
But the joint statement issued on Thursday said: “regular work including all other services will proceed as normal.”
“GRIDCo wants to assure the general public and its cherished customers that it is committed to delivering on its mandate of transmitting reliable and uninterrupted power supply,” the statement added.