William Ankrah (right) presenting a package to one of the raffle winners at the event.
General Secretary of the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMWU), Prince William Ankrah, has cautioned government against contract mining.
He gave the warning at a get-together and raffle for members of GMWU at Rattray Park in Kumasi to mark the May Day Celebration.
According to him, “A new trend is emerging in the mining sector where some management of companies, under the guise of contract mining, are converting permanent jobs into fixed term contracts.”
He indicated that “the union has, at various forums, raised concerns about this precarious work environment being forced on the Ghanaian mineworker, and it appears our political leaders are not appreciating the dangers of contract mining and the effect it will have on PAYE which is a major source of revenue for the country.”
Mr Ankrah said, “For instance a permanent worker who earns about the cedi equivalence of $900 a month is likely to receive half of that amount under contract mining when engaged on fixed term.”
According to him, “It definitely will impact on PAYE and also the pension of the employee.”
Even though mining sector constitute under one percent of the job market in Ghana, mineworkers account for 18 percent of total PAYE in the country, because there is appreciable salaries in the mining sector.”
He wondered why government would permit contract mining that would make hardworking Ghanaians retire and live in poverty and misery.”
“Nobody is standing in the way of businesses to make profit, but that should not be at the expense of better conditions of service for employees.”
Surprise
He stated that “recently, the GMWU leadership was shocked to hear all of a sudden at a ministerial meeting, where the sector Minister for Lands and Natural Resources indicated that contract mining is a government policy.”
Mr. Ankrah underscored that “the government saying contract mining is their policy is a surprise to us as Ghana Mineworkers Union leadership, because policy does not get operationalized overnight.”
He said “if it’s approached as a partisan policy, because today it is NPP and tomorrow NDC, then we are doomed. I wish to caution against political lens in awarding contract business in the mines.”
“Is government now taking a last-minute position that contract mining is its policy, because of the impasse between Ghana Mineworkers Union, GMWU and Gold Fields Ghana Limited?”
He stated that “if it’s government policy then it should have been discussed by the social partners to weigh all the options. Giving the challenging nature of mining, it beats one’s imagination why government will support the contract mining module of work and be jeopardizing the future of Ghanaian mineworkers.”
He, therefore, called on government to, as a matter of national interest, convene a broad stakeholder engagement forum on the contract mining policy.
National Chairman of GMWU, Kwarko Gyarkari, in a remark, described the current appetite for contract mining by some mining companies as an attack on labour and the improved conditions of service for Ghanaian mine workers.”
He disclosed that “due to the good package negotiated in the Collective Agreements (CAs) by the Ghana Mineworkers Union for members, some employers have decided to engage in work modules like contract mining that will undermine the Collective Agreements.”
He added “those collective agreements were negotiated over the years to improve the lives of miners looking at the kind of condition, under which they work. Let us rally behind the GMWU leadership to ensure that mineworkers are not made worse off under contract mining.”
“The leadership will engage in constructive dialogue with all social partners to do the right thing to save the industry.”
By Melvin Tarlue