Global Economy Is Not Favouring Workers

Madam Sharon Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), said global economy is not favourable for the working people.

She said the cost was about investment and it was unacceptable for working people, especially the youth to feel that they have no hope.

Madam Burrow was addressing members of the women and National Youth Committees, the Informal Economy Desk Officers and Gender Desk Officers of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), in Accra as part of her working visit to Ghana to find out the challenges of working women.

She said the time has come for working people to say to their various governments that they want jobs and meaningful minimum living wages.

The ITUC General Secretary pointed out that many countries still did not have minimum wage for their workers, and sources of protection such as health, housing and education, had also become an issue.

Madam Burrow said about 75 per cent of the world people has no good protection sources, and called on the leadership of unionized labour to organise their workforce to make a voice to the various Parliaments across the world.

“Parliaments are listening to dominant voices and demands, and we need to organise both the formal and informal sectors to build voices”, she said, adding, “only union movements can work favourably for the working people”.

Mr. Kofi Asamoah, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress(TUC) , said the strength of the TUC has been undermined, because out of the about 25 million Ghanaians, a small fraction has been unionized with huge numbers in the informal sector not part of the TUC.

He appealed to the women leadership in the TUC to work harder to occupy positions at all levels of organised labour, as well as other sectors, to help break the obstacles undermining their development, so as to contribute effectively to the national economy.

Mrs Rose Laniorkor Kwei, Informal Economy Desk Officer of the TUC, said about 90,000 workers from the informal sector joined the pension scheme in 2010, and it was expected that the number would have increased by now.

She appealed to TUC to help identify Fund Manager for the workers to encourage more workers in the informal sector to join the scheme.

The TUC, she said, must be relevant to the workers in the informal sector by organising workshops and upgrading the skills of workers and sourcing financial support to aid them expand their businesses.