WORKER Unions in Ghana are considering the idea of merging into a single entity, so they can present a stronger front.
Being championed by the Fredrich-Ebert Stiftung (FES) Foundation, the merger, among other things, would give the Ghanaian workforce a stronger voice in demanding for the workers’ right.
At a forum in Accra last Friday on the merger, the worker unions concurred that merging into one entity would enhance the power of Ghanaian workers in bargaining for better working conditions.
General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Africa, Kwasi Adu Amankwah, said mergers were at the core of the existence of unions.
According to him, having many splinter workers’ unions do not help the cause of workers, hence the need for a merger.
“The world of work is changing rapidly today so you can’t even figure out who the real employer is. Take many of our institutions and you will see that a number of the jobs have been outsourced.
“By this, the main employer does not even take responsibility for social security of those workers employed through outsourced agencies.
“So a number of gains which workers had before now are being eroded because we have become weaker and that is why all the unions must come under one umbrella to make the voice of the Ghanaian worker stronger,” he stated.
He said at the last count, there were about 150 worker unions with some having less than 100 members; “so with such a number what can you do apart from begging,” he asked and urged the unions to put aside their pride and come together as one union.
The Deputy Secretary of the Trades Union Congress, Joshua Ansah, on his part decried what he said were maltreatments of workers in the informal sector because they are not unionised.
In his view, if the labour front was brought under one body, it would make it easier for all ununionised workers to be part of the workers front and by this, their labour rights would be respected by their employers.
The TUC, the umbrella body of over 21 worker union, he said, was open to discussions for a stronger workers front in line with its principle of a decent work for all Ghanaians.
Ghana Country Director of FES, Fritz Kopsieker, said there were enormous benefits for Ghanaian workers if the unions came together to present a stronger voice.
He said though Ghana’s labour front was more robust and coordinated than many African countries, merging splinter worker unions was the way to derive full benefit for workers.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI