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01.07.2004 General News

TUC says it accepts ICU's disaffiliation

01.07.2004 LISTEN
By GNA

Accra, July 1, GNA- The Trade Union Congress (TUC) Executive Board on Thursday said it had accepted the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union's (ICU) decision to disaffiliate itself from the mother Union. Mr Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, TUC Secretary-General, who announced this at a press conference, said having assessed the reasons assigned by the ICU coupled with its entrenched position about allegations against the TUC, "The Executive Board of TUC decided to accept the ICU's National Executive Council's decisions to disaffiliate from the TUC". The ICU on June 15, this year, wrote to the TUC to disaffiliate itself citing several reasons for the decision.

The ICU said that the TUC distorted the report of events at the Union's conference to TUC structures and the disregard of legal actions by ICU against the Union of Industrial, Commercial and Financial Workers Union (UNICOF), which had also broken away from the ICU. ICU accused the TUC to allow UNICOF to participate in this year's May Day celebration and the TUC's Constitutional amendments to disintegrate the ICU.

Mr Adu Amankwah said the Board considered the notice of the ICU's disaffiliation in the light of the conduct of the ICU Leadership in recent times, the ill-advised decision of the ICU to boycott this year's May Day celebration and the provocative attacks it mounted against the TUC and its Leadership.

"The notice of disaffiliation was also considered against the background of the questionable loyalty of the ICU Leadership to the TUC and its structures as a whole," Mr Adu-Amankwah said.

The Secretary-General, however, said the decision by the ICU did not augur well for trade union unity and solidarity adding: "The TUC calls on membership of the ICU not to support any precipitate step by the ICU Leadership that undermines the unity of the Union movement for reasons that were not at all clear."

Mr Adu-Amankwah said: "There are a number of misrepresentations of the TUC's actions that suggested a deliberate attempt to paint the TUC in a bad light in order to pursue an agenda, which was not clear, or there was such paranoia in the ICU Leadership about the UNICOF's affiliation to the TUC".

He said the TUC failed to mediate the impasse between the ICU and UNICOF because both parties were not willing to cooperate adding, "even the court action by ICU also made the mediation committee's work ineffective".

On UNICOF participation in the May Day activities, Mr Adu-Amankwah said whilst the TUC took note of the ICU's reservations, the TUC became convinced that UNICOF involvement served a larger purpose of unity of the Trade Union movement.

He denied the alleged TUC's Constitutional amendments to disintegrate the ICU and said what the TUC had done was to adopt proposals for constitutional amendment that would strengthen the relationship between the TUC and its affiliates.

"...These are general policy issues being proposed to advance the long-term interest of the unity of the labour movement and the accountability of its leaders," Adu-Amankwah said.

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