TUC Calls for Creation of Decent Jobs
The General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Dr. Yaw Baah, has underscored the need for government to create decent jobs to move the nation out of poverty.
He defined decent jobs as jobs that guarantees the future of employees, and further stated that the roots of poverty would be tackled if descent jobs are created in the country.
Addressing the media at a Pre May Day forum held in Accra yesterday, dubbed “Sustainable Development Goals and Decent Work: The role of Social Partners,” he said “If you go to work looking unsecured that is not a decent job. We heard some 5000 workers losing their jobs at the Mines. This is not how we develop a country. Our laws have lapses and some employers are taking advantage and they are profiteering from our own resources. We are asking government to fix the laws. It is only government that can work with the Unions and employers to change this.”
According to him, the figures emanating from the Ghana Statistical Service indicate that only about 2 million out of a working population of 13 million Ghanaians between the ages of 15 and 60 years were engaged in what could be termed as decent jobs.
The figures further specified that 10 million out of the working population of 13 million are also engaged in what they described as “bad” jobs, while the remaining 1.5 million were jobless.
Dr. Baah believes “those 2 million people out 13 million who have some form of decent work are being threatened with redundancy every day.”
He said Ghanaians are really working and deserves better treatments from their employers.
The Residence Director of Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung foundation, Mr. Fritz Kopsieker, on his part said “it is necessary for everyone to look beyond the money in our pocket today and tomorrow and to engage people in the society to move the country forward.”
According to him, no society including Ghana can develop meaningfully if the common good plays second fiddle to partisanship, nepotism and greed.
The forum was organized to enlighten Organized Labour on the Sustainable Development Goals, and to ascertain the status of implementation on each of the goals at the national level.
It brought together 700 participants made up of leadership of Organized Labour.
They comprise of TUC and its twenty affiliate national unions, Heads of Specialized Departments of TUC, Desk officers at the TUC, and other Organized Labour groups.
May Day Parade
This year’s National May Day Parade would be held at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi on Tuesday, May 1st.
President Akufo-Addo would be there to grace the occasion as the Special Guest of Honour.
Ahead of the celebration, there will also be a health walk in Kumasi on Saturday, April 28.
By: Emmanuel Yeboah Britwum
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