President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo has expressed sadness at the Ghanaian attitude towards work; a phenomenon he blames for Ghana’s retarded growth over the years.
President Nana Akufo Addo made the jagged remarks while responding to the concerns of the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Dr Anthony Yaw Baah who complained about the poor state of remuneration and standards of living of the present Ghanaian worker.
Addressing labour at the May Day celebration after the general secretary’s speech, President Akufo Addo charged the hierarchy of Organized Labour to take bold steps to addressing the myriad of unhealthy worker attitudes among the country’s workforce if labour wants to see a change in the fortunes of the nation.
“I have heard you Mr Secretary General and your lamentations about how badly off present day workers are, in comparison with Ghanaian workers in the past. We do have lots of problems including bad roads, traffic jams, high electricity tariffs, inadequate housing and of course low wages. But that is only half the story.”
“There is another side to our story that we have to face up to as well. Ghanaian artisans for example used to have an enviable reputation around the region. Our carpenters, masons, mechanics, plumbers, tailors were much sought after. They took pride in their works and enhanced their own self standards every time they took on a new job.”
“How come that very old class room blocks withstand storms and heavy rain fall while the roofs of nearby newly built ones are ripped off regularly? How come that we build roads that are expected to last at least five years, do not make it through one rainy season? The workers on the roads, the contractors and all the consultants conspire to deliver the shoddy work that prevents us from getting to where we ought to be.”
“We all avoid very carefully any mention of the work place attitudes that retard our progress. We arrive at work late and then spend the first hour in prayer. We are clock watchers and leave in the middle of critical work because it is the official closing time. Everything comes to a stop when it rains and we seem to expect the rest of the world also to stop.”
“We have no respect for the hours set aside for work. We pray, we eat, we visit during working hours, and we spend hours chatting on the telephone when customers are waiting to be served thereby increasing our labour cost.”
“We take a week off for every funeral and then we wonder why we are not competitive. The service that we provide in our hospitality industry does not match that of our competitors and many of us have sadly come around to accept poor service as the norm.”
“There is a particularly pernicious attitude to property that we find at work. There is the petty stealing of paper, envelopes, tea, milk, and other equipment. There is a reckless use of office vehicles. Employees show no inclination to protect the things that are in the offices and factories and extreme reluctance to stand up for what we know as right in our work places in general.”
President Nana Akufo Addo concluded his responses by charging the General Secretary to lead what he called “a campaign for change in attitude to work and increase in productivity.”
He insisted that Organised Labour will begin seeing the change it desires if workers begin doing their bit by changing the very attitudes they exhibit at their various work places.
The theme for this year’s May Day Celebrations is, “Ghana at fifty mobilizing for the future through the creation of decent jobs.”
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