Ghanaian Employers Exploiting Workers – Labour Unions Fumes

Members of the Industrial Liaison Council of Ghana, on Thursday said many employers in the country used all kinds of ploys to unjustly retrench workers.

It said, such subterfuge includes re-organisation, amalgamation, takeovers, and outsourcing to concentrate on core business and thereby, cut down on operational costs and maximize profits at the expense of the Ghanaian worker.

Mr Solomon Kotei, Secretary General of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU), who presented the statement on behalf of the Council to mark the day, noted that, such ploys at times took place in collusion with employment agencies, which later recruit the workers on casual basis.

The statement titled: “From decent work to precarious work: the case of the Ghanaian worker”, was signed jointly by the Mr Kotei, on behalf of the ICU, Mr Prince Ankrah of the Ghana Mine Workers Union (GMWU) and Fuseini Iddrisu of the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union (GTPCWU).

The ICU-Ghana, the GMWU and the GTPCWU constitute the Industrial Liaison Council of Ghana.

Mr Kotei described the precarious worker as one, who occupies permanent position but denied permanent employee rights, which include reduction in salaries/wages and deprivation of social insurance and protection.

Globally, he said, such workers were subjected to unstable employment, lower wages and more dangerous working conditions.

“They rarely receive social benefits and are often denied the rights to join a union.

“Today in Ghana on the blind side of the law, we see and helplessly supervise the increasing use of subcontracting, which makes employers insert intermediaries between themselves and the workers in a kind of triangular relationship,” he stated.

Under this trend, Mr Kotei said the subcontractor earned super normal profit for no hard work done. “This trend is harmful to the present and future security of workers in this country,” he warned.

He noted that some employers were abusing the privilege to employ casual and temporary workers by giving a permanent status to their usage in contravention of sections 78 of the labour Act, 2003 (Act 651).

He described this as unacceptable and called on the Government, employers, civil society and advocates of justice and workers alike, to stand up against the destruction of the decent work in Ghana by unscrupulous employers.

Decent Work Day is celebrated each year to create awareness among governments, employees, civil society organizations, workers, and other stakeholders of the desecration of decent work by some unscrupulous employers and their collaborators.

Also, Mr Solomon Kotei, General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU), has reminded Trade Unions that they owed to workers the duty and responsibility to ensure that labour got decent treatment wherever they were employed.

Mr Kotei who gave the reminder at this year’s observation of Decent Work Day on Wednesday in Accra, said the essence of this protest was to bring to bring to the attention of the government, authorities in charge of labour issues, NGOs, the public, and workers, the injustice and deprivation being meted out to workers who by no fault of theirs, had found themselves in indecent employment.

The Day which falls on October 7 of every year, is aimed at reminding Employers to be mindful of the International Labour Organization’s concept of ‘Decent Work,’ and make it productive.

This year’s celebration was organized by the Industrial Liaison Council, Ghana (ILCG), whose tripartite membership comprise the ICU, the Ghana Mine Workers’ Union (GMWU), and the Ghana Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers’ Union (GTPCWU), on the theme: ‘From Decent Work to Precarious Work: The Case of the Ghanaian Worker.’

Mr Kotei, who is also the Chairman of the ILCG, pointed out that the gradual and steady conversion of decent to precarious work, was becoming more and more worrying to trade union organizations, academics, and many labour-friendly organizations the world over.

He said it was regrettable that Ghana’s laws were silent on what constituted decent work, thus opening the floodgates for this phenomenon to reach a fever pitch.

He said the International Labour Organization’s (ILO’s) concept of ‘Decent Work Agenda’ comprised four inter-related and mutually inclusive objectives, namely, creating employment, guaranteeing the recognition and respect of international labour standards, extending social protection, and promoting social dialogue.

Mr Kotei explained that in line with the ILO’s concept, ‘Decent Work’ could be described as work that was productive, gave fair income, security at the workplace, and social protection for the family, equal opportunities and treatment, better prospects for personal employment and social integration, freedom to organize and participate in decision-making.

He was quick to point out, however, that the conversion of decent to precarious work had endangered work and deprived workers of their rights, like freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining.

The ILCG Chairman described precarious workers as those who filled permanent job needs, but were denied permanent employee rights.

“Globally these workers are subject to unstable employment, lower wages and more dangerous working conditions.

They rarely receive social benefits and are often denied the right to join a union.

Even when they have the right to unionize, workers are scared to organize if they know they are easily replaceable, “Mr Kotei explained.

He said the first indicator of precarious work in the country is earnings, adding that here we look at those who are poorly paid.

This, he said, included those earning the minimum wage and less, and also those whose earnings were above the minimum standard, but below a designated level.

Mr Kotei said the second and third indicators of precarious work were the non-wage of compensation given to the worker, and the extent or degree of regulatory protection afforded to workers.

Touching on the form and shape of precarious work in the country, the ICU Secretary General said a lot of employers were using all kinds of subterfuge, like reorganization, amalgamation, take-overs, outsourcing to concentrate on core business, among others, to unjustly retrench workers.

“They do this mainly to cut down on operational costs and maximize profits at the expense of workers.

They then, in collusion with some employment agencies, re-recruit the retrenched workers back into the same company as casual, temporary or contract workers,” he pointed out.

Mr Kotei said unjustifiably these retrenched workers re-recruited as casuals, temporary or contract workers, “are made to do the same work, and work for the same number of hours as the so-called ‘permanent’ workers, but with diminution in salaries/wages and deprivation of social insurance and protection, among other social benefits.”

On the employment of casual and temporary workers, the ILCG Chairman said evidently, some employers were abusing that privilege to employ, by giving a ‘permanent’ status to their usage in contravention of the Labour Act, so much so that some casual and temporary workers had worked in some organizations continuously for over 10 years, without being treated as permanent workers in flagrant violation of the Act.