Stressful May Day

The history of May Day dates back to Roman times. Today it is a global celebration of labour, its contribution towards the enhancement of life even under the harshest of conditions, being the motive.

For their backbreaking efforts in the productive effort, setting aside a day in the year to celebrate it is a fantastic idea, especially when policymakers do not throw dust into the ears of those engaged in the production process.

Even as we salute our indefatigable workers for their myriad roles, we would be doing them a disservice if we back off their pitiable lot in the country and pretend that all is well with them.

Indeed, things have never been this bad for Ghanaian workers. Last year they lamented their plight, with some of them threatening not to turn up for the usual drill of listening to political leaders, especially the President, give them assurances of better days ahead.

The better days they are always promised never come but rather recede into a fading silhouette.

Many workers have lost their jobs, the repercussion of mismanagement of the economy at the hands of those who hold the reins of power. Nobody in public or civil service has been spared the pain and economic inconvenience of the harsh times that we live in. As for those in the private sector, their plight is worse than their public sector counterparts. They are at the mercy of stressed owners of private sector companies which are on the verge of collapse as the energy crisis bites harder.

Indeed, some of them (especially males) have been sent home already, compelling their wives to engage in all manner of menial jobs to keep body and soul together.

The nostrum introduced by the Kufuor administration which came in forms like the School Feeding Programme, National Health Insurance Scheme, among others, no longer command the clout they did earlier.

If last year was better than this year the reason is not farfetched: the worsening energy crisis has seen the deterioration of the already bad picture of the economy. Corruption is on auto-pilot with those at the helm unable to stop it because after all, they are knee-deep in the moral absurdity.

Opulence on the part of the few with access to the public kitty has constrained impoverished workers to whinge in disappointment.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the face of the challenges has been so far helpless, having lost its vibrancy over the years.

In spite of its lost vibrancy, the TUC was constrained to hit the streets last year, attracting a massive turnout by its members.

Many months since then their petition to government to vary its policies to give workers respite has come to naught.

As they mark the day as a matter of routine, we salute them for their stoicism and assure them that one day things would change.