Workers Of Ghana Ayekoo!

It is time again to express gratitude to our great workers for keeping the nation going. They fall into various categories; each of them very critical to the smooth running of the country.

In spite of their criticalness though there are many shortcomings in their relationship with those entrusted with the management of the affairs of this country.

We can speak about how this relationship has been in the past eight years or so not so much about the current government, which is barely four months into their tenure, though showing tremendous promise.

Ghanaian workers have in the past been the typical underdogs, at the bottom of the social ladder, their remunerations hand-to-mouth unable to cater adequately for their personal needs, let alone their families.

The voice of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) is often drowned by the behind-the-scene manouvres of government agents to the detriment of the workers.

A lot more needs to be done to change the situation workers find themselves in. At public forums government agents speak at the top of their voices about how plans are far advanced to do so and so to raise their living standards. While these never come to fruition, workers are unable to take those who made the promises to task – their plight only worsening by the day.

That has been the picture for the past eight years. Solomon Kotei, General Secretary of the Industrial Commercial Union said it all last week when he spoke about his quest for industrial democracy one in which workers will have a voice in all matters that affect them.

That is not the case today especially in the private sector. Many Ghanaian workers toiling in companies established by expatriates are unable to talk about issues which concern their welfare; apprehensive of the fallout from such action.

They could easily be showed the exit for their bravado. Suffering and smiling is the best way out. We are looking forward to the day when Solomon Kotei's dream would materialize.

Capital and labour must coexist in a manner that would be mutually beneficial for the duo. The trade unionist raised this subject in his issue also when he said the two must partner each other in the task of nation-building. The two, we would add, must understand and appreciate the importance of the amalgam of their efforts. It is only when this condition prevails that the advantages thereof would accrue to the nation and the individuals who people the country.

For now the relationship between the two largely favours the owners of capital – the reason being obvious.

In a situation where unemployment remains one of the most challenging handicaps facing governments, labour tends to be docile not sure about the outcome of insistence on the prevalence of best practices.

The “if you cannot put up exit” attitude is retrogressive and overwhelming.

The inequality in the distribution of the wealth of the nation among her citizens in a manner which would ensure equity from each according to their abilities and to each according to their needs is still a distant cry.

Thankfully a new dawn is beginning: Ghanaians, majority of them, demanded a change in the status quo.

A light has begun glittering at the end of the tunnel which has for long been denied a flicker of illumination.

The free SHS, the abolition of nuisance taxes, one village one dam and one district one factory initiatives; all things being equal, are bound to change the fate of the nation and workers can smile that the change they voted for has not been in vain.