The Ghana National Coordinating Committee (NCC) of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has begun a two-day workshop aimed at strengthening the capacity of transport unions to organise workers and improve leadership in the sector.
The workshop on the theme, “Strengthening the union power of transport workers in Ghana,” also focuses on leadership and governance within transport unions, with particular attention to increasing the participation of women and young workers.
It brought together representatives of transport unions to examine challenges confronting the organisation of workers, assess the strengths and weaknesses of the unions and develop strategies to improve their activities.
Strengthening unions
The Chair of the Ghana NCC, Alhaji Fuseini Iddrisu, said the workshop was designed to provide transport union leaders with the expertise needed to strengthen their organisation and provide better leadership to their members.
He said the workshop, which covered workers in the road, air and sea transport sectors, seeks to develop strategies to address challenges within the various areas, including the participation of women in union leadership and preparing young workers to take up leadership responsibilities in the future.
He said the programme was also expected to contribute to efforts towards the ratification of Convention 190 (C190), while improving the organisation of workers in areas such as tricycle operations.
Action beyond workshop
The Trade Union Congress Chairman, Bernard Owusu, said the workshop would enable the unions to conduct a SWOT analysis of their strengths and weaknesses in organising workers in the transport, maritime and civil aviation sectors.
He said the exercise was important in helping the unions identify areas that required improvement and develop practical measures to strengthen their activities.
Mr Owusu urged participants to ensure that the workshop produced practical results and did not end with discussions.
“I expect that our people will not take this workshop as one of the workshops that they will come, you participate, you go, and you don't act,” he said.
He said mechanisms would be put in place to monitor the implementation of decisions reached during the workshop so that the outcomes would be reflected in the activities of the unions.
ITF priorities
The Women Regional Coordinator and Project Activity of ITF Africa, Assita Ouedraogo, said the workshop was part of efforts to build the capacity of members of the Ghana NCC in line with the federation’s priorities for transport workers.
She said the ITF was focusing on challenges affecting young workers and women, as well as workers in the platform economy.
“For young workers, we are dealing with the problem of job security, and also we are trying to help those who are in platform economy sites, because they need to have some decent contracts,” she said.
Ms Ouedraogo said the federation was also working to formalise the platform economy and improve social protection for workers.
She said the workshop would further consider ways to strengthen leadership and governance within transport unions and revive the youth and women committees, stressing that the workshop would end with action plans and urged participants to take the outcomes to the grassroots.
She said Ghana was a key country for the ITF and that the federation would continue to support efforts towards the ratification of C190 - the first international treaty to recognise the right of everyone to a workplace free from violence and harassment.
