By Konrad Kodjo DJAISI
Mr. Abdul-Moomin Gbana, General Secretary-Ghana Mineworkers’ Union oF TUC (GMWU), has appealed to the Chief Justice , and by extension managers of the court, to intervene by facilitating an expeditious trial and delivery of justice for three colleagues: namely the Local Union Chairman, Secretary and Assistant Secretary of Sunon Asogli Power.
The three were hounded out of the workplace for voluntarily choosing to exercise their inalienable right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, he stated.
The GMWU Secretary-General noted that the union petitioned a number of state institutions, including the Presidency and Council of State, to intervene but two years on nothing appears to be happening to resolve the matter.
Mr. Gbana said this when he addressed the National Executive Council of GMWU for first-half of the year, in fulfillment of Article 8.3 of GMWU’s constitution on August 14-15 in Accra. The meeting was to review the year’s first-half and discuss the industry’s emerging issues as well as matters of national importance.
“As a union, we maintain that terminating the appointments of three local union leaders for deciding to join a trade union and volunteering to lead fellow workers at the enterprise level is most unfair and unjust, and violates their fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Ghana, Labour Laws and ILO Convention 87 (Right to Freedom of Association) and 98 (Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining).”
Gbana also touched on transformational changes taking place in mining and the labour market. This has resulted in a marked shift in the nature of employment, away from standard or permanent employment to non-standard forms of employment (including temporary work, casualisation and fixed-term contract work).
As a result of this significant shift exacerbated by the continued fragmentation of production and outsourcing, workers now have lower levels of employment protection, high degrees of uncertainty and face higher risks in respect of workplace accidents or injuries, he added.
“While these non-standard forms of employment provide employers with flexibility and enhanced profits, they often come at the expense of workers’ job security, benefit and bargaining power, posing challenges for labour and trade union rights.”
The Ghana Mineworkers’ Union also observed that Future Global Resources Bogoso-Prestea Mine was abandoned in December 2023 due to lack of willingness and financial capacity by Blue Holdings International, owners of FGR, to invest in the mine since they took over from Golden Star Resources in 2020.
“As a union we are however resolved that if by August 17, 2024 no concrete steps are taken by the minister to bring into effect the terms and conditions of his own Conditional Approval issued to FGR on April 17, 2024, the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union and its members across the mining industry working in concert with the mining communities of Bogoso and Prestea shall have no other option but to take a series of immediate actions to press home our demands.”
For his part, GMWU National Chairperson, Peter Baako Wilson, called on members to build progressive and mature relationships with captains of the industry without getting into what American unions describe as sweetheart relations.
He said capacity the union has built over the years at Secretariat level no doubt adequately puts it in a solid position to engage the Chamber of Mines where necessary on equal strength.
