The General Secretary of the Financial Business and Services Employees Union, Benjamin Mingle, says the leadership of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) and the labour union, have made progress on arrangements for payment of outstanding wins NLA is yet to pay.
This announcement comes on the back of the second appearance of the National Lottery Authority and the labour union before the National Labour Commission.
The NLA staff union on March 1 threatened to withdraw its services in protest against attacks on employees of the National Lottery Authority borne out of the failure of the Authority to pay claims due winners of lottery draws nationwide.
But the National Labour Commission intervened and instructed the Financial Business and Services Employees Union to rescind its decision and appear before it with the NLA for an amicable resolution.
Upon the second appearance before the committee, the General Secretary of the Financial Business and Services Employees Union, Benjamin Mingle, said the two parties have made some progress.
“We have made some progress. We have agreed on a payment plan for those who have won lottery draws across the country. We will also issue a statement to urge the public to stop the attacks on our members once the monies are going to be paid,” Mr. Mingle indicated.
Despite the progress made so far, Mr. Mingle insists there are still some outstanding issues that should be addressed.
“There are other issues that we will be addressing because if we cannot pay wins, then it is a matter of operations and that needs to be addressed and even though we are not management, we have a role to play [as a labour union] in shaping policy,” Mr. Mingle said.
Mr. Mingle also debunked media reports that some agencies have come to the aid of the NLA, insisting that all payments to the NLA are statutory saying “today at the meeting, the Director-General, Kofi Osei Ameyaw read a letter to our hearing stating that the payment made to NLA by KGL Technology Limited [a licensed online lotto marketing company] are statutory payments the company is to make to the NLA.
The progress according to Mr Mingle makes the staff of the lottery authority safer at their places of work.
