The management of Metro Mass Transit (MMT) Company is considering cutting back on the number of its employees to enable it to sustain its operations.
The company has suffered a sharp decline in revenue because of the falling number of passengers on its buses with the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak. The situation has led to MMT’s inability to pay salaries of its 3,000-plus employees consistently.
Albert Adu Boahen, managing director of MMT, told Asaase Business that he will initiate processes to cut down on the number of staff to enable the company to operate efficiently.
“One option which I will say is not popular is to downsize the number of employees. So that the very little that we generate can cater for all.
“I have on my payroll over 3,000 employees. So if I am not generating that much I won’t be able to meet the salary demand of workers,” Adu Boahen said.
STC also hit
MMT, like other transport companies, has experienced reduced passenger numbers following measures to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The coronavirus measures have also affected sales of the State Transport Company.
“The operations of Metro Mass have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19. MMT generates money on its own and pays its staff.
“Because of social distancing, we take only 50% capacity of the buses, and when that happens, the revenue we generate goes into fuel that is consumed by the buses,” Adu Boahen said.
MMT for instance, was generating between GHC180,000 and GHC200,000 a day. As a result of social distancing requirements and other COVID-19-related protocols, its sales have been cut by up to 50%.
Back off the barricades
Meanwhile, workers of the company who embarked on a sit-down strike last week have resumed work. They were directed to go back to work by the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union of the Trades Union Congress of Ghana.
The employees took the action to demand two months in salary arrears from the government, covering the months of May and June.
But in a letter addressed to both the senior and junior staff unions of MMT, the mother union, which describes the strike as justified, said it wanted the workers to resume work immediately. The decision followed an assurance from the government that the arrears would be settled in a week’s time.
The union has however urge the government to give critical consideration to an immediate stimulus package for Metro Mass Transport Company to save it from collapse.
Nana Oye Ankrah
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