By Edward Dankwah
Aburi, Oct 31, GNA – The Trade Union Congress (TUC), Ghana and the Socialist Movement of Ghana (SMG), have organised a three-day Labour Leadership Retreat to find pragmatic solutions to the challenges the labour force is facing.
The retreat, the second, was on the theme, “Labour and Pan-African Leadership”.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the Leadership Retreat 2023, Madam Philomena Aba Sampson, Vice Chairperson, TUC Ghana, said according to the Ghana Statistical Service, over 1.76 million Ghanaians lost their jobs, through various means in 2022 and 2023.
She added that a lot more by their own estimation found themselves in non-standard forms of employment whilst others went through all forms of unfair labour practices.
“All of these comrades are looking up to us leaders, and so it is for these reasons that I believe this retreat is very timely, to help shape our discussions to focus on issues that affect us as workers,” Madam Sampson said.
She assured that at the end of the retreat, pragmatic measures would be taken to tackle challenges the generality of the working class continued to face.
Mr Kwesi Pratt, General Secretary, SMG, said cooperation amongst the unions was vital in addressing challenges of workers.
He noted that one of the struggles, which started last year, was the struggle against alleged attempts by the government to deny workers the right to form unions in their workplaces.
“I want to hope that some of the struggles that we started last year and could not be concluded, will be brought to some reasonable conclusion, especially the right of workers to form unions in their workplaces. ”
Mr Yaw Appiah-Kobi, member of the coordination team, said the retreat was part of the efforts for the working-class leaders to understand the current crisis and develop a working-class response to the challenges confronting workers on the African continent.
He added that it would also foster unity among Ghanaian workers, Nigerian workers and Kenyan workers, especially within the current framework of the promotion of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which was about the movement of resources across borders.
GNA