Mineworkers Union honours members
More than 300 members of the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMWU) of TUC-Ghana have been celebrated and honoured in Accra for their hard work in keeping the mines and, by extension, the national economy running.
Advertisement
The event, which was in the form of a funfair and raffle draw at the National Theatre in Accra on the sidelines of this year’s May Day celebrations, saw a number of union members winning electronic gadgets and cash prizes.
The prize items included 10KG front-loading washing machines, gas cookers, four-burner electric ovens, 43-inch smart digital satellite television, table-top fridges, digital microwave ovens, electric rice cookers, kettles and irons.
Significance
In his remarks, the General Secretary of the GMWU of TUC-Ghana, Abdul-Moomin Gbana, underscored the significance of recognising the sacrifices made by labour activists in their pursuit of workers' rights and improved working conditions.
He indicated that workers could, therefore, not take issues of conditions of service for granted. “We should not take the union for granted because it remains our heritage. The May Day celebration has a long and rich history deeply rooted in the advancement of workers' rights throughout history.
These rights have been fought for and won through the formation of unionised groups,” he said. What remained now, he said, was for workers to collectively support their respective labour unions and hold their leadership accountable, ensuring that the leaders did not engage in activities that undermined the purpose for which they were formed.
Role
Mr Gbana, while commending workers for their invaluable role in national development, stressed the need for them to be mindful of their health and safety at work, especially those engaged in hazardous and life-threatening occupations.
He said workers should be mindful of the fact that their safety was very important, and for them to continue to remain in employment, “we need to work safely in order to ensure the welfare of our families and loved ones”.
He also reminded employers of the need to recognise that they were in a relationship, and whether they liked it or not, they could not do away with workers, for that matter, with unions.
He said it was, therefore, urgently imperative for both sides to work closely together in a very collaborative and cooperative manner and that “employers should not see workers and, for that matter, their unions as a threat or as a hindrance to business”.
“At the end of the day, the profitability or the profits that you make as employers comes from the hard work and the sweat of workers, and so you cannot run an enterprise without workers,” he said.