Mineworkers Urge Government To Ratify ILO Convention

The Ghana Mine Workers Union (GMWU) of the GTUC has called on the government to initiate a tripartite discussion, with a view to ratifying the necessary conventions promoting the safety of the mine worker.

The union was particular about the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 176 and Recommendation 183 of (1996), Health and Safety in the Mines.

It regretted the inability of past governments to ratify the convention and recommendation which seek to promote and protect the health and safety of mineworkers.

In  an eight-point statement issued by the GMWU at the end of a two–day National Executive Council (NEC)meeting held in Accra and jointly signed by the General Secretary, Prince William Ankrah, and National Chairperson, John K. Brimpong, the union commended the government's increase of royalties to six percent, but called for 40 percent or more of the proceeds of the royalties to be invested in the development of the mining communities in the form of infrastructure and alternative job-creation ventures.

The statement said it will help in avoiding the situation that occurred in mining towns like Bonte, Prestea and Akwatia which have become ghost towns.

Other concerns raised in the statement are vast salary inequalities between Ghanaian mineworkers and their expatriate counterparts, galamsey operations, infrastructural development within the mining communities, oil find, Escrow account, sustainability of Ghanaian-owned companies and contractors, institution of the housing trust fund for the mining sector.

The union stressed its commitment to ensuring a $500 minimum wage for employees of mine companies in the medium term.

 On the galamsey operators, the GMWU hold the position that the operators should be encouraged to form cooperatives for the licensing and regulation of their activities by the appropriate government agencies. This will prevent environmental degradation and the risks that the galamsey operators are exposed to.

The GMWU called for the speedy reconstruction of the western railway lines to further boost the economic activities in the Western region, particularly the haulage of bulk material to the ports by the bauxite and manganese mining companies.

The union endorsed the Ghanaian business empowerment agenda being advocated by the government.

It reiterated that the presence of the two Ghanaian-owned mining contracting companies, which are Mining and Building Contractors based in Obuasi and Engineers and Planners based in Tarkwa, should be seen as strategic partners.

In a related development, the Deputy General Secretary of the Union, Eric Kwabena Gyima, has emphasized that the union will continue to engage mining interest groups in discussions that will sustain jobs in the mining industry.

He assured the union's strategic partners, especially officials of the mining companies that the union has no ulterior motive to destroy the industry, but only raising legitimate concerns which call for mutual collaboration in the larger interest of Ghana's mining sector.  

Mr Gyima was responding to questions from journalists at a news conference after the eight-point resolution was issued to the media.

The GMWU Deputy General Secretary noted that the union does not pass resolutions for the fun of it. According to him, they will continue to call on appropriate institutions to take actions to find solutions to concerns raised by the National Executive Committee.

In his view, similar resolutions were issued in July in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo region, after the union's NEC meeting, but it appears there has not been any concrete response.

The Accra NEC meeting therefore re-stated the eight-point concerns and hope to have constructive  engagement with other social partners to fashion out the appropriate way forward for the industry in the years to come.