Railway services are expected to resume in the coming days after the Railway Workers Union of Ghana called off its strike. This comes after the National Labour Commission (NLC) expressed its willingness to negotiate on the demands of the railway workers on September 30.

The Railway Workers Union of Ghana had earlier declared its intention to strike on Tuesday, September 30, if the government does not pay the twelve months' salary owed them. According to a press statement dated September 24, and addressed to the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, the Union revealed, “We wish to inform your esteemed office that the National Labour Commission (NLC) has responded to our letter dated 16th September 2025, regarding our intended lawful strike and peaceful picketing action scheduled for 30th September.

Parts of the statement read, “ The Commission has directed that we stay our intended action and appear for negotiations on 30th September 2025. We remain committed to this process and will honour the Commission’s directive in good faith.”

However, the Union has warned that should the NLC go back on its words, it will have no option but to proceed with its industrial strike.

It added,”The Commission has directed that we stay our intended action and appear for negotiations on 30th September 2025. We remain committed to this process and will honour the Commission’s directive in good faith.”

Earlier, the General Secretary of the TUC, Joshua Ansah, had given the government a six-day window to settle the workers or expect an industrial action to drum home their demands following the failure of authorities to address them.

According to him, the railway workers have been subjected to hardships in the last twelve months, and they are no longer going to take assurances without action from the government.

“It’s been 12 solid months since the workers of the company were paid. Just imagine the situation of a worker and their family in today’s Ghana without a salary for 12 calendar months,” adding that all they have exhausted all avenues to get their grievances addressed; however, all efforts have proven futile.

“We have written letters and engaged the government at the highest level. We will no longer settle for assurances. We have had enough of them already,” he said.

Accordingly, Mr Ansah stated that “We have sent a notice to the government and the owner of the company that if by September 30 the 12-month outstanding salaries owed to our affiliate are not paid, TUC will embark on a strike”.

While the state previously covered 70% of railway workers’ salaries, this support has been reduced, leaving the Ghana Railway Company and its staff in crisis. In light of that, Mr Ansah urged the government to "look for any means" to settle the 12-month debt immediately.

“The state used to pay 70% of the salaries of the railway workers, but that support has been withdrawn,” he noted.

Speaking on the planned commissioning of the Tema–Mpakadan Railway line on October 1, TUC admonished the government to abort it, as the operators, i.e., Ghana Railway Company Limited, have not been officially informed about it.

“The Ghana Railway Company Limited, which is the operator, the ministry can’t purport to run the Mpakadan rail line and other lines without the operator. We will resist any attempt to sideline the Ghana Railway Company Limited,” he added.

This follows the Railway Workers Union officially notifying the Greater Accra Regional Police Command of its intention to strike and picket on September 30 due to the government’s failure to pay salaries since October 2024.

Reaffirming the TUC’s solidarity with the workers, Mr Ansah said: “The union itself was founded on railway land, and we have a duty to ensure fair treatment and timely pay for railway staff.”

Barely five months ago, the Railway Workers Union declared an industrial action over a 7-month unpaid arrears of 900 staff members if the Ghana Railway Company Limited fails to pay.

This comes after the group stated on Monday, May 12, that it was giving authorities until the close of Tuesday, May 13, to pay them or explain the reason for the delay in payment of their salaries.

During a media engagement, the Branch Secretary of the Accra division, Franklin Cobbinah, explained that the move has been necessitated as all efforts to engage the government have proven futile, citing that “…we learnt our management together with the union have been there but what comes out at the meeting we are told anything”.

Responding to concerns of issuing a short notice of their action to the government, Mr Cobbinah insisted that, “For us, it's not short because we have waited for quite a long time, 7 months, so when should we tell them to bring us our salary again? The time is now. That is why we gave them by the close of yesterday.”

“We started demanding this salary somewhere last year, and we were told we are to wait till we get a sector minister, so we continue from there. We are told there was no sector minister to talk about the Railway Ministry. We learnt our management together with the union and have been there, but what comes out at the meeting we are told anything,” he added.

The Ministry of Railway Development, according to the Branch Secretary of the Accra division, visited for a headcount, promising to settle their salaries right after May Day; however, there has been no news of their settlement for the past twelve days.

“…the Ministry came to take particulars of ours and we were told just after May day we would receive our salaries and today is 13th (sic) we haven't heard anything, nobody is telling us what is going on. So the only decision we, the workers, can take is to sit down and wait for the management to come and tell us why we haven't been paid,” he added.

In response to the union’s strike, the Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA) has issued a statement distancing itself from the industrial action by workers of the Ghana Railway Company Limited (GRCL). They said they have no connection to it and that it does not affect its operations.

“We wish to assure the public that the GRDA remains fully operational and has not initiated or endorsed any form of public demonstration on any issue,” the statement said.

The Transport Minister announced on September 18 the opening of the Tema-Mpakadan railway. Speaking during the Government Accountability Series press conference held at the Presidency in Accra, Minister Joseph Bukari Nikpe announced that a test run of the Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) train, which was freshly procured from Poland and was involved in an accident in 2024, has been successfully carried out on the railway, which is set to be opened in October.

“The train that was involved in the accident during the test drive in 2024 has been repaired. A successful test run was carried out on September 16, “The 97km Tema to Mpakadan Railway Line, which is part of a multimodal system connecting Tema Port to Buipe Port via the Volta Lake, has been completed, and I am pleased to announce that the Tema–Mpakadan Railway will officially open on October 1,” he noted.

He continued that the completion and soon-to-be-opened railway forms part of the government’s plans to broaden the rail infrastructure for goods and passenger services.

“The Government plans to modernise and expand the railway infrastructure for fleet and passenger services, creating jobs, boosting local economies and fostering trade”, adding that “the viability of the rail line depends on fleet services but requires further investment in port infrastructure to facilitate the transfer of cargo between rail and the lake.”