The Railway Workers Union of Ghana, operating under the Trades Union Congress (TUC-Ghana), has declared it will commence a nationwide strike effective Tuesday, September 30.

Explaining its decision to strike, the Union, in a letter dated September 15 and addressed to the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, cited the non-payment of workers’ salaries and entitlements for the past 12 months.

The statement indicated that the workers will converge at the Ministry of Transport in Accra, proceed to Parliament for the submission of a petition, continue to the Ghana Railway Development Authority, and conclude at the TUC-Ghana headquarters.

According to the General Secretary of the Railway Workers Union of Ghana, Benjamin Essuman, the majority of workers have been left with deteriorating health conditions, broken homes, and other social challenges. He added that this situation is putting financial strain on their families.

“If by Monday, September 22, 2025, no concrete measures are taken by the Ministry of Transport to address these issues, we shall proceed to act under Sections 160 and 171 of the Labour Act, effective September 30,” part of the release read.

However, the Transport Minister Joseph Nikpe, who was speaking during the Government Accountability Series on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, assured that measures are underway to address the situation.

“The railway industry has suffered neglect, and President Mahama has shown commitment to revitalise it to meet demand,” he said. “The Ghana Railway Company’s operations have declined over the years, affecting its capacity to generate internal revenue to pay staff and cover operations. We have engaged with the Ministry of Finance to find a more sustainable solution going forward.”

According to Mr. Nikpe, the government is prioritising the welfare of the workers. “We feel for the workers, and we are getting close to getting them their salaries,” he added.

In May, the Railway Workers Union commenced 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 issued a statement on Monday May 12, giving authorities until close of Tuesday on 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 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 ; 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 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, Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA) 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 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.