The Ashanti Regional branch of Trade Union Congress (TUC) has pleaded with the government to address the ILO Convention 190, concerning violence and harassment of workers at work places.
The union has equally pleaded with the government to turn round the economy and that, the much talked about IMF Bailout cannot be a solution to Ghana’s self-inflicted economic hardship.
The plea comes from its conviction that Ghana, as a country, can ratify the convention.
The Union has also expressed concern over the current erratic supply of power and urged the government through the Ministry of Energy to solve the unsustainable electricity power supply.
Mr Augustine Adongo, the Ashanti Regional Secretary of TUC, on behalf of the General Secretary said during the May Day address that it was regrettable that Ghanaians are experiencing Dumsor again, after what they went through in the past.
The theme for this year’s celebration is: “Election 2024 – The Role of Workers and Social Partners in Securing Peaceful Elections for National Development”.
According to him, they are celebrating this year’s May Day at the time Ghanaian workers and their families are grappling with high cost of living and inflation of over 25 percent, with the exchange rate of the cedi now almost GH¢14 to US$1, compared to about GH¢4 in 2016.
He was of the view that, workers who earned a monthly salary of GHc1,000 in 2016 took home the equivalent of about US$250, but today GH¢1,000 is only US$71.
The depreciation of the Ghana Cedi at this monumental scale, he said, is 250 percent in the last eight years, representing a huge decline in the living standards of Ghanaians generally and workers in particular.
He blamed the situation on over-reliance on imported goods such as medicines, refined petroleum products and food, which prices are directly affected by the exchange rate of the Ghana Cedi, in terms of the major international currencies such as the US dollar and the Pound Sterling.
He disclosed that Ghanaian workers rely on loans to meet every basic necessity such as rent advance, children’s education and even food, while paying an interest rate of over 30 percent to access loans.
He also noted that in the informal sector, interest rates can be as high as 50 percent or even higher, besides the fact that their wards graduate from the universities and colleges, but cannot find jobs after spending so much money on their education, adding that there seems to be no end to this socio-economic hardship in sight.
He said that the much touted IMF Bailout cannot be a solution to Ghana’s self-inflicted economic hardship.
According to him, the relatively high wage increases they negotiated for workers in the last two years have lost their real values, and reminded members that they have a lot of work to do to protect the working people of Ghana.
He disclosed that, as in the previous election years, they chose this year’s theme to emphasise the need for all Ghanaians to work hard to maintain peace in Ghana.
He said Ghana has not done too well in economic management, but enjoys relative peace, compared to other countries in the sub-region.
“The peace we are enjoying is priceless and so we should never allow partisan politics to destroy it, because peace is the only thing left for us and we should do everything we can to keep it”, the Union Scribe advised.
Meanwhile, the Trade Union Congress has honoured some hardworking members of the union, including James Osei Owusu of the Building and Construction Workers Union, with Philip Kwaku Asante from PUWU of (GWL) emerging as best worker.
