He said the country now stood at the edge of a cliff and that any miscalculation could have negative consequences on people’s lives, adding “with the little economics I know I am very worried about the future of our country, if we don’t act now”.

Dr Baah was addressing the 13th quadrennial delegates conference of the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMU), an affiliate of the TUC in Accra yesterday.

He attributed the prevailing economic situation in the country partly to the 1992 Constitution which he said had given “too much powers to the President”.

“In fact, the President is the state and the state is the President,” he added, saying the fortunes of the country could be improved by “changing the constitution to give power back to the good people of the country”.

Deepening engagement

The General-Secretary of the GMWU, Abdul-Moomin Gbana, said there was the urgent need for all stakeholders within the industrial relations space to engage more to curtail the rising non-standard forms of employment and also ensure employment protection for workers in the sector.  

“While these non-standard forms of employment provide employers with flexibility and enhanced profits, they often come at the expense of workers job security, benefits and bargaining power, posing challenges for labour and trade union rights,” he said.

Mr Gbana further called on the government to quicken the review of the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) and also strengthen and resource labour administration institutions such as the Labour Department and the National Labour Commission, to ensure the protection of workers’ rights.

Concerns

The Chairman of GMWU, Kwarko Mensah, said a fixed-term contract model of employment deployed by mining companies did not offer job security for mineworkers and must, therefore, be reversed.

“The ills associated with this form of employment is that there is serious power imbalance in the employment to the extent that workers are left with little or no power to compete, and as result, they become vulnerable to the exploitative interest of the employer,” he said.

Mr Mensah also said it was disheartening that most mining contractors were not paying statutory deductions to employees.

“Most of these contractors owe employees Provident Fund, Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), end of year contract benefits and even union dues deducted from workers’ earnings,” he said.

Assurance

The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, assured the GMWU that the government would take steps to address challenges confronting employees in the mining industry, especially those relating to poor working conditions, exploitation and abuse of workers’ rights.

He urged the GMWU to adhere to best global practices even as they seek to build a resilient trades union, adding “we should be strategic in our decision-making and allow the systems to dictate the pace of our development”.