Mr. Ankrah (Second Left) And Mr. Baah (Second Right) Addressing The Media As The Rest Of TUC Leadership Look On
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has criticized the decision of Gold Fields Limited to shift from owner mining to contractual mining at its Tarkwa Mine in the Western Region.
According to the union, the move, which will see the dismissal of about 1,700 mineworkers, will be vehemently opposed.
Secretary General of TUC, Yaw Baah, who addressed the media on the sidelines of the Union’s General Council meeting on Thursday in Accra, said the leadership of TUC was solidly behind the workers, who are likely to be affected, calling on government not to sit down and allow the decision to be implemented.
“We are here to affirm our brothers and sisters at Gold Fields, who may be affected that we are with them. TUC is solidly behind the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union. We are going to protect their interest,” he said.
He wondered why Gold Fields, after signing an agreement with the government of Ghana in 2016 called the Development Agreement, pledged to invest heavily in its operations at Tarkwa for which it received a tax concession.
Contractual mining helps companies to free up capital, which would have otherwise been invested in the acquisition of equipment, among others.
Contract mining at the Tarkwa Mine started in 1996, but Gold Fields later adopted ownership mining.
Executive Vice President of Gold Fields, West Africa Region, Alfred Baku, told the media at a press briefing on Tuesday December 12, 2017 in Accra that to remain a sustainable mining company, Gold Fields was taking steps to reduce its operation costs which he said have been on the increase for some time now.
He also denied reports that a total of 1,700 employees would be dismissed.
But the Secretary General indicated that it was unfortunate that Gold Fields was revisiting the model when indeed it faces no adverse operational challenges.
Corporate Lies
Chairman of the Ghana Mineworkers Union, Prince William Ankrah, told journalists that the “Tarkwa model is really exploitative. It seeks to line the pay cheques of a few people, especially the CEO as against the Ghanaian employees.”
He said Gold Fields was not giving the Mineworkers Union the recognition it deserves, describing the responses by Gold Fields as “corporate lies.”
By Melvin Tarlue