TDCL appeals to government to resource Department of Factories Inspectorate

By
Laudia Sawer

Tema, Jan. 9, GNA –
The Tema District Council of Labour (TDCL) has appealed to the government to
properly resource the Department of Factories Inspectorate in the industrial
city to enable it discharge its legal mandate efficiently.

The Inspectorate has
a mission to promote measures that would safeguard the health and safety of
persons employed in premises, which fall within the purview of the Factories,
Offices and Shops Act, 1970 (Act 328).

The TDCL in an
interview with the Ghana News Agency indicated that the office of the Inspectorate
in Tema was seriously under resourced making it difficult for its officers to
monitor and sanction activities in the numerous industries, offices and shops
in the area.

Mr Emmanuel
Addo-Kumi, Secretary of the TDCL, indicated that it was long overdue for the
needed logistics to be give  to the
Inspectorate by the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to ensure the
safety and health of workers.

Mr Addo-Kumi said
some of the members of the TDCL worked in areas where safety was not properly
observed “which has led  to various
degrees of injury, diseases and the  fear
of being sacked if  they  report”.

He added that
unfortunately some employers also threatened employees when they reported such
safety issues at their premises.

According to him,
other challenges faced by the workers in the industrial city included
casualization which he stated had become the order of the day through which
labour was exploited in terms of wages, salaries and pension contributions.

The TDCL also
bemoaned the interference of some management in union affairs indicating that
“some managements are union phobia therefore they will do everything possible
in their capacity to ensure that no trade union is established in their yards,
anyone who does that is shown the exist”.

Touching on other
issues facing locally owned companies, the TDCL said they found it strange to
see foreign investors enjoying tax exemptions whereas indigenous enterprises
struggled to raise funds to revamp or put up additional or new structures to increase
production adding that the Volta Aluminum Company (VALCO) and the Tema Oil
Refinery (TOR) were examples.

They therefore
called on government to as much as possible provide financial support to  indigenous companies.

GNA