TUC urges govt not to renew IMF bailout
The Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) says it would reject any move by the government to renew the three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
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Instead, the TUC is urging the government to work towards ending the programme as soon as possible.
It contends that any attempt to renew it will affect the government’s agenda to improve the economic and social conditions in the country.
A statement signed by the Secretary General of TUC, Dr Yaw Baah, after the mid-year review of the TUC, said renewing the IMF deal would affect employment in the public sector.
The statement also asked the government to ratify the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 122 (1964) concerning employment and economic development policy to guide the country’s social and economic development.
Other issues addressed during the review centred on the working conditions of workers, politicisation of the public service, privatisation of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and productivity and work attitude.
Working conditions
The congress expressed worry over the alarming rate at which businesses in Ghana were relying on non-standard forms of employment including casual work, outsourcing and short-term employment contracts.
“Increasingly, workers are being hired on a short-term contract basis by third party employment agencies. Those employed are mostly young and unskilled. Some of these agencies are taking advantage of the weak labour administration institutions to abuse the rights of these young and vulnerable workers,” the statement said.
The TUC statement called on the government to provide resources to the relevant labour administration institutions to “deal with those who are abusing workers’ rights”
Politicisation of public service
Another issue the congress raised was the political vigilantism and the violent takeover of public organisations by alleged party footsoldiers of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), as well as dismissals and selective transfers in the public service.
The statement said the practice was very dangerous and unacceptable.
Illegal and irresponsible mining
The TUC commended the government and the media for the various efforts towards the eradication of illegal mining in the country once and for all.
“ But we should bear in mind that illegal mining can be totally eradicated only if we approach it from employment and social development perspective with law enforcement only as a means of ensuring discipline within the sector,” the statement said.
The council also stressed the need for the government to pay more attention to the lack of economic opportunities, poverty and inequality in mining areas, adding that “there is no excuse for engaging in any illegal activity but it will be extremely difficult to eradicate illegal mining if those engaged in the activity cannot find other alternative means of survival.”
ECG concerns
The TUC welcomed the government’s effort towards the introduction of Ghanaian-owned private sector companies into the concession arrangement to ensure that Ghanaians owned majority shares in ECG.
It, however, expressed concern over the government’s plans to go ahead with a concession arrangement in which the state will have no direct stake at all in the ECG.