The Convention People’s Party (CPP) on Tuesday called on the Trades Union Congress Ghana (TUC-Ghana) to immediately mobilise progress forces to confront the emerging workforce casualization in the country.
Professor Edmund Nminyem Delle, CPP Chairman and Leader in an interview with the Ghana News Agency to mark the 2018 International Labour in Ghana, which is on the general theme; “Uniting Workers for Social and Economic Advancement,” said casualization of labour was an affront to the rights of workers.
Prof Delle therefore called on the TUC-Ghana, Ministry of Employment, and all labour groupings as well as political parties to join forces and fight for the interest of the Ghanaian workers.
He explained that the process of shifting labour from a preponderance of full-time and permanent positions to casual and contract positions, reduces the entitlement and protection of workers.
The CPP Chairman said labour casualization was a covert attempt by employers to circumvent the costs associated with catering for employees’ housing, medical, vacation, terminal and other benefits normally accorded to permanent or full-time employees.
Prof Delle said Government could redress the problem of rampant casualization of labour in the country through the provision of adequate low-interest loans to small business prospectors.
The CPP Chairman recounted that in the 1960s during the reign of the first President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the TUC and the labour front enjoyed close affiliation with the CPP government.
“The CPP government saw in the workers movement a key transformational force for society and invested heavily and pursued a vigorous policy of industrialisation, job creation and education of the working class.
“The Seven year Development Plan and the corresponding Work and Happiness Programme gave the working class and the TUC leadership a real stake in national development and policy making”.
Prof Delle said the special relationship between trade unions and the CPP Government changed the industrial relations landscape from one dominated by animosity to one of cordiality, which impacted positively on the working conditions.
“On this historic day, the CPP salute the Ghanaian worker whose condition continue to deteriorate, with poor housing scheme, poor working conditions and poor remuneration, Ghanaian workers deserve better,” Prof Delle noted.
May Day provides the Labourers their right to work for only eight hours a day, which gives labour relief from the stress and pressure from lots of activities performed in a single day.
Historically On May 1, 1886 labour unions went on a strike in the United States of America and demanded that workers should not be forced to work more than eight hours a day.
In 1889 a meeting took place in Paris, where it was decided to celebrate May Day on an annual basis through a proposal given by the Raymond Lavigne and said that international demonstrations were required to celebrate the anniversary of the Chicago protests.
In 1891, International’s second congress officially recognised to celebrate May Day as an annual event.
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