Abdul-Moomin Gbana
The Ghana Mine Workers Union (GMWU) has indicated that the once vibrant workforce of the mining sector is dwindling at a faster pace due to the poor and deteriorating working conditions.
According to the Union, all attempts to ensure workers’ rights are protected have proven futile.
GMWU General Secretary, Abdul-Moomin Gbana, bemoaned the continuous abuse of workers’ rights by employers, particularly foreign companies, during GMWU’s First Half Year Meeting in Accra
He called for an assessment of the labour laws to ensure sustainability and security of the sector.
“Ghanaian workers are constantly subjected to acts of intimidation and victimisation by employers, particularly foreign multinational companies, for voluntarily exercising their inalienable rights to form and join trade unions,” he said.
He alleged that some indigenes were aiding the impunity against workers in the sector.
“Strangely, these foreign multinational companies are aided by their Ghanaian collaborators, sometimes including high-level government officials, who are expected to know better but have chosen to become tools used by employers to stifle and frustrate workers’ rights for private gain at the expense of poor vulnerable workers,” Mr. Abdul-Moomin stated.
Touching on the termination of the appointments of the three local union leaders of Sunon Asogli for deciding to join a trade union, Mr. Gbana disclosed that the affected workers are yet to be compensated.
“Till date, they stand outcast and vilified amidst all our laws as a sovereign state in 21st century Ghana.
“Sadly, two years on, this matter continues to be subjected to legal gymnastics and needless manoeuvrings in court by Sunon Asogli Power and their lawyers, and further aided by the bureaucracies of the court system,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Union made a passionate appeal to President Akufo-Addo and Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo to take keen interest in the matter by ensuring that the three union leaders are reinstated and their rights to form or join a trade union fully protected.
A Daily Guide Report