By Kodjo Adams, GNA
Accra, Aug. 24, GNA — The Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), has petitioned the government to suspend directives compelling mining companies to transition core mining operations from owner-mining to contract mining.
The Union warned that the move was worsening precarious employment and undermining workers’ rights.
The Union said the growing use of contract mining, outsourcing and labour brokers in the sector had resulted in a shift from permanent employment to fixed-term contracts, casualisation and what it described as disguised employment.
Mr Abdul-Moomin Gbana, the General Secretary of the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union, led a group of protesters to petition the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in Accra.
In its petition to the Ministry, the Union said more than 95 per cent of Ghana’s mining workforce was currently engaged under fixed-term or casual arrangements, compared with less than 10 per cent who were in permanent employment.
Mr Gbana said the situation had deteriorated significantly since 2020, with the implementation of the Minerals and Mining (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations, 2020 (L.I. 2431), contributing to the fragmentation and outsourcing of mining operations.
The Union said the trend had weakened employment protection, increased job insecurity and exposed workers to greater risks of workplace accidents and injuries.
It also alleged the increasing violations of workers’ and trade union rights, shrinking collective bargaining coverage and threats to workers’ social protection, pensions and incomes.
He said it was particularly concerned about the activities of labour brokers, whom it accused of working with some mining companies, especially Chinese-owned firms, to provide workers at low rates.
The Union said the practice affected not only ordinary mineworkers but also professionals such as mining engineers, geologists and metallurgists.
“Labour is now a commodity which is traded by labour brokers and gencies for a pittance,” the Union said, describing the development as “completely retrogressive and unacceptable.”
Mr Gbana argued that the transition from owner-mining to contract mining could significantly reduce workers’ earnings and benefits.
He claimed that workers performing the same jobs under contractors could earn between 30 and 50 per cent less than their counterparts directly employed by mining companies.
The Union said the resulting reduction in wages had broader implications for workers and the economy, including lower personal income tax payments, reduced pension contributions and diminished retirement benefits.
On local content, he said the initiative should not become a mechanism for transferring wealth from workers to contractors, while weakening social protection and decent employment standards.
“Local content must therefore create opportunities for all Ghanaians. It cannot become a vehicle for exploitation to enrich a few contractors at the expense of the workers who risk and sweat day and night in the bowels of the earth to produce the wealth,” he said.
He called for amendments to the Local Content Regulations to address workers’ concerns and the establishment of a permanent Government-Employers-Labour forum, to ensure workers’ voices were considered in mining-sector policy decisions.
GNA
Edited by Christabel Addo
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