By Philip Tengzu
Nandom, (UW/R), May 2, GNA – Naa (Professor) Edmond Mwinyem Delle Chiir VIII, the Paramount Chief of the Nandom Traditional Area, has urged workers in Ghana to go on the negotiation table with the government to get their concerns addressed.
He also urged the government to listen to the concerns of the workers to help meet their challenges as they were the lifeline of the country’s growth.
Naa Chiir said this in Nandom during the Upper West Regional Celebration of the 2023 Workers’ Day on the theme: “Protecting Incomes and Pensions in an Era of Economic Crisis: Our Responsibility.”
Some 16 workers who had distinguished themselves in their fields of work within the year were recognised with citations, while others also received citations and flat-screen television sets.
The event, which took place at the Nandom Park, commenced with a route walk through some principal streets of Nandom led by Naa Chiir.
Members of the labour unions wielded placards with inscriptions: “Pay Professional Development Allowance Now”, “Dear Nana Addo, inflation is Killing,” “JUSAG Needs a New Salary Now”, “Mr Prez, COLA is Gone, Taxes are Killing Us,” “Approve and Pay our New Salaries Now” among others.
Naa Chiir also advised the workers to always be united to enable them demand what was due them from the appropriate quarters.
“I plead with labour. We appreciate what you do. Without labour we cannot do anything, but I assure you that the government of Ghana will act on what you have said,” the Nandom Naa said.
He indicated that the traditional institution would also advise the government to make sure that the needs of workers were met so that they could “work in happiness.”
Mr Godwin Gariba, the Upper West Regional Secretary of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), who presented the May Day Statement, said the economic crisis currently experienced in the country was self-imposed.
“Sadly, the IMF bailout has now become the lifeline for Ghana, despite our enormous human and natural resources.
The reason Ghana must seek IMF support every three years is due to the flaws in the way our economy has been managed, based on neo-liberal free market ideology,” Mr Gariba explained.
He said the IMF programme could never take Ghana out of its economic crisis but would only impose more hardship on the people of the country.
Commenting on the theme of the event, Mr Peter Maala, the Upper West Regional Coordinating Director who represented the Regional Minister, said protecting the incomes and pensions of workers was a collective responsibility and a duty of all social partners.
He asserted that the government had confronted the country’s economic crisis head-on with the implementation of various interventions including cutting down the salaries of some political appointees and expenditure of departments and agencies by 30 per cent.
GNA