The Mine Workers Union is incensed by wage disparities between expatriate and local workers and has threatened a nationwide strike. According to the workers, there is vast difference between salaries paid to expatriate workers and their local counterparts. In an interview with Joy News one of the workers said an average expatriate worker earns $198,000 a month whilst his local counterpart is paid $262. The workers have called on management mining companies to increase the amount to $500 this year as a beginning of a three year salary adjustment programme aimed at correcting the disparities. They accuse their employers of ignoring their concerns. Already, workers of Ashantigold in Tarkwa and Obuasi are on strike over the issue, and the General Secretary of the Workers Union, Prince William Ankrah said that is the beginning of a nationwide strike set to the hit the industry. He told Joy News’ Sammy Darko “the situation cannot be allowed to go on.” He said if management does not show any commitment to resolving the issue they will have no other alternative than to join their colleagues in Ashantigold. Meanwhile, Huseini Abugri, Human Resource Manager at Ashantigold, Obuasi has described the action of the workers as unfair and a breach of negotiations. He opined they were engaged in the negotiations when the workers went out to the media. He would not disclose the extent of negotiations, but said discussions have not broken down, hoping the issue will be resolved soon. Listen to interviews with a section of the aggrieved workers in the attached audio Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana