Organised Labour is preparing to engage Government and the Management of COCOBOD over measures aimed at addressing persistent operational and financial challenges confronting the cocoa regulator.
Labour leaders say a meeting expected within the next two weeks will focus on resolving key concerns, including proposals to streamline the salary structure of COCOBOD workers and explore alternative cost-saving measures.
The development follows a decision by Management and senior staff of COCOBOD to take voluntary salary reductions of 10 and 20 percent in an effort to shore up the institution’s finances.
According to COCOBOD, the move is expected to mobilise approximately 40 million cedis over an eight-month period to help offset debts owed to suppliers and other stakeholders.
Head of Public Affairs at COCOBOD, Sam Jerome, described the salary cuts as a necessary intervention to stabilise the Board’s operations.
“We are looking at not less than 5,000 senior staff members, so if you do a tentative arithmetic, we will secure five million cedis every month,” he said. “If from now we are looking at eight months down the line, we will be mobilising 40 million cedis. This money can be used to defray some of the debts of our suppliers.”
He added that Management’s decision demonstrates a commitment to addressing the institution’s challenges.
“If Management has acknowledged the challenge and we are going all out to mitigate the challenge, then there is no reason to doubt what has been done,” Mr. Jerome stated.
Beyond the salary reductions, COCOBOD Management is also considering a comprehensive audit of its workforce to improve efficiency. The Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Randy Abbey, has called for a human resource audit to ascertain the Board’s total staff strength and enhance productivity.
“There would be staff rationalisation, and the Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Randy Abbey, has called for a staff HR audit for him to ascertain the total staff strength of COCOBOD,” Mr. Jerome explained. “We must have a mechanism to check the efficiency of each and every staff of COCOBOD.”
However, labour representatives argue that salary cuts alone may not be sufficient to resolve the institution’s challenges.
Deputy General Secretary of the (GAWU), Dr. Pascal Kaba, is advocating broader stakeholder consultations to identify more sustainable solutions.
“We as unions believe that there is the need for us to engage to look at what are the other alternatives — not necessarily pay cuts — but other measures to ensure sufficient use of the little resources that we have,” Dr. Kaba said.
Meanwhile, Executive Secretary of the (CLOGSAG), Isaac Bampoe Addo, says organised Labour will take up the matter with both government and COCOBOD Management to secure lasting reforms.
“This issue has come about because we think there is nothing like institutional memory, and the attitude that we find now — if one person comes, he will sack all workers — has caused all these issues,” Mr. Bampoe Addo asserted.
“I think organised labour must wake up to take up the issues with the management and government to address it,” he added.
The anticipated engagement between organised labour, government and COCOBOD Management is expected to shape the next phase of reforms at the cocoa regulator as stakeholders seek to restore financial stability and operational efficiency.
By Daniel Opoku
