The Ghana Mine Workers Union (GMMU) has cautioned Newmont Ghana Gold Limited not to take unilateral decisions in any retrenchment exercise.
It warned that “any attempt to unilaterally issue out redundancy letters to employees while the case is pending at the National Labour Commission will be met with a strike”.
“The company's bluff to go ahead with the intended redundancy exercise although the prevailing business outlook within Newmont does not support such a decision is interesting,” the GMMU said in a press statement signed by its General Secretary, Prince William Ankrah, and issued in Accra last Tuesday.
“Evidence available to the union in relation to Newmont's vibrant business outlook conspicuously reflects the posture of a business racing to generate super profits at the expense of people who have toiled to position the operations on a pedestal of growth and progress”, it said.
Co-operation
The statement said stakeholders in the mining industry could attest to the fact that the GMMU had fully co-operated with all companies that had built “a convincing business case which warranted labour rationalisation”.
“So far, with our cooperation, more than 3,500 employees have exited the industry through redundancies, including 400 employees from Newmont Ahafo operations. However, the union is unable to accept reasons being put forward by the company as constituting grounds for a further 600 employees to exit the company,” it contended.
Industrial peace
The statement said the union’s objective of maintaining sound industrial peace over the last decade and half was not only to find ways of solving conflicts or settling differences but it was also to secure the co-operation and goodwill among different groups in the industry, with the aim of driving their energies and interests towards the economically viable, commercially feasible, financially profitable and socially desirable industry.
“Our commitment to this new policy orientation of industrial partnership is further demonstrated by the fact that since 1999, the union has tried, however difficult, to prevent any serious industrial action which was detrimental to the course of progress of not only the industry, but the nation,” it said.
Other concerns
The statement said the GMWU was also becoming worried about the situation where courtesy calls on the President and traditional leaders were being used by some officials of multinational mining companies as endorsement of business decisions or plans.
It said frequent industrial conflicts did not only affect the companies and workers but also tended to impoverish the community as a whole.
“They lead to wastage, foment class hatred, embitter mutual relations and retard the development of the nation. Additionally, they affect production and national income”, the statement indicated.
It said the strategic shift in policy and modus operandi by the union since the mid-1990s had been to divert course from the adversarial and antagonistic relationship that existed with stakeholders, with its attendant turbulent outcomes, and pursue the path of progress and sustainability.
It also said the move was to align the union's long-term strategic plans with the government's development agenda for the industry.
“This facilitated a massive inflow of foreign capital into the industry from all over the world, spearheaded by captains of global mining conglomerates such as AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields Corporation, Newmont Corporation and Golden Star Resources, to mention a few.
“The positive results of this co-determination is the phenomenal growth in investment, taxes and exports from the industry, according to the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ghana Revenue Authority and Ministry of Finance,” the statement added.
