STAY AWAY ROM PARTISAN POLITICS-GTUC WARNS LABOUR UNIONS

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The Ghana Trades Union Congress, GTUC, has warned workers’ unions across the country to resist any temptation to front for any of the political parties that intend to contest in the polls.   

Instead, workers must advocate free, fair, transparent and peaceful general elections, since any such tendencies will eventually undermine any union that indulges in partisan politics. 


The Secretary General of the GTUC, Kofi Asamoah gave the warning at the opening of the 10th Quadrennial Delegates’ Conference of the General Agricultural Workers’ Union, GAWU, in Kumasi. GAWU, as one of the 18 affiliate workers’ unions of the GTUC, is the umbrella and welfare body for a majority of all categories of people employed within the agricultural sector of the country. 

High on the agenda of the Kumasi Conference which is on the theme: “Organizing Agricultural Workers for Decent Work”, will be the election of new officers to manage its affairs. 

Mr. Kofi Asamoah said what Ghanaian workers should be seen advocating is a free, fair, transparent and peaceful Presidential and Parliamentary polls later this year. 

According to him, workers and vulnerable residents in Ghana rather stand to suffer the most, should the upcoming general elections degenerate into chaos, saying that most of the politicians would not stay in the country to suffer the consequences of their own actions and inactions. 

Touching on the theme of the Conference Mr. Kofi Asamoah expressed regret that Ghana recorded only less than one per cent growth in the agricultural sector last year. 

He also questioned government’s new policy of 12 point-five per cent tax on rural farming at this time when, according to him, agricultural production is taking a nose dive. 

This is where, Mr. Kofi Asamoah urged the GAWU to bring to bear on the government to review some of its policies that are detrimental to the growth of that sector.

 The outgoing General Secretary of GAWU, Kingsley Offei-Nkansah indicated that the agric sector is still faced with numerous cases of indecent work.

 Among them are under-employment, disguised forms of forced labour, child labour, explicit and subtle forms of discrimination along gender lines and a lack of social protection for the workers.

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