Morgan Ayawine with other national officers leading a peaceful protest in Tema against sale of VALCO
Workers of the Volta Aluminium Company Limited (VALCO) have opposed plans to privatise the state-owned aluminium producer, warning that the proposed sale of a majority stake to a private investor could undermine the nation’s strategic industrial interests, threaten jobs and reverse recent gains made by the company.
In a statement issued after a protest march yesterday and signed by the General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU), Morgan Ayawine, the union alleged that the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) was proceeding with plans to transfer a 70 percent equity stake in VALCO to Arch Holdings Consortium.
According to the union, the proposed equity investment would effectively hand over the management and control of the company to a private investor, despite sustained opposition from the workforce and repeated appeals for the plan to be abandoned.
The workers described VALCO as a strategic national asset that had recorded significant operational improvements in recent years through investments by the State, management and workers, arguing that it would be unjustifiable to relinquish state control just as those efforts were beginning to yield results.
“The State and the workforce have invested enormous resources, expertise and dedication in restoring VALCO to its current state of progress,” the statement said, adding that government should preserve the company for the benefit of present and future generations.
The workers warned that privatising the company could lead to job losses, reduced workers’ welfare and financial losses for both employees and the State, while also undermining Ghana’s Integrated Aluminium Industry.
It further argued that the government, the VALCO Board, management and organised labour had worked collaboratively to restore the company to operational stability and growth, making it economically imprudent to transfer control to a private investor.
The ICU also questioned the rationale behind the proposed transaction, noting that the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources had only recently highlighted VALCO’s operational successes and progress.
“Wherein lies the justification to sell VALCO?” the union asked.
The workers accused GIADEC of placing private interests above the national interest and cautioned against allowing what it described as “a few private interests to reap where they have not sown” after years of sacrifice by the State and the workforce.
In a separate petition addressed to President John Dramani Mahama, the workers appealed for his direct intervention to halt the proposed sale.
The union reminded the President of his May Day address in Koforidua earlier this year, during which he urged organised labour not to remain silent when state-owned enterprises were being mismanaged and reaffirmed government’s commitment to reviving struggling public enterprises.
The ICU argued that allowing the sale of VALCO would be inconsistent with the President’s publicly stated commitment to protecting strategic state-owned enterprises and safeguarding employment.
It noted that under the current Board and management, VALCO had embarked on a structured five-year optimisation programme aimed at improving operational efficiency, expanding production capacity and positioning the company among the leading aluminium producers in the sub-region.
According to the petition, substantial investments in plant rehabilitation, infrastructure, operational improvements and workforce development had already begun transforming the fortunes of the company.
By Ernest Kofi Adu