ICU renews mandate of national officers

The Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) has renewed the mandate of its national officers for a second four-year tenure.

This was during its 12th Quadrennial National Delegates Conference which ended at the University of Professional Studies, Accra.

Officers

The officers whose mandates were renewed included the General Secretary, Morgan Ayawine; the National Chairman, Alhaji Nureeden Al-Hassan; the National Vice-Chairman, Paul Kofi Charway, and the Deputy General Secretary (Operations), Emmanuel Baah Benimah

The others are the Deputy General Secretary (Administration), Samuel Ananga; the National First Trustee , Charles Kojo Yeboah, and the National Second Trustee, Jemima Fafa Seneya- Bentum.

Acceptance

In his acceptance speech, Mr Ayawine said during the events preceding the conference, the “enemies of progress”, both internally and externally, conspired to sow seeds of discord to hijack and destabilise the union for self-aggrandizement.

 "But thanks be to God, their evil machinations and sabotaging strategies were exposed and nipped in the bud, hence this sweet victory.

"That is why the overall feeling here today is obviously one of mutual happiness, and I mince no words in saying that I am equally ecstatic with this development," he said.

Indeed, he said the retention of all the national leadership members of the quadrennial just gone by, demonstrated approval for continuity of the good job done.

Continuity

Continuity, Mr Ayawine said, would ensure efficiency and progress which the re-elected national leadership was committed to bring to all the structures of the union.

"Nevertheless, we cannot do it all alone, so we wish to solicit your unalloyed support and cooperation as you did before, in all aspects of our operations, and especially with the dedication and commitment of "Management, staff and the entire membership of the union, we believe we can successfully deliver on the mandate and confidence reposed in us once again," he emphasised.

The retained general secretary said he was delighted, and wished to assure the rank and file of national leaders commitment and re-dedication to the noble cause of the union, "to wit, the protection of the rights of workers which is the heritage won for us through the blood and sweat of our forebears, who sacrificed their positions and comfort in the formation of a formidable workers’ organisation through the merger of five unions which today is known as ICU-Ghana"

Generality

Mr Ayawine said without fear of contradiction, the generality of workers of Ghana today, looked up to ICU-Ghana for the protection of their economic interest and so, with all hands-on deck, "we shall certainly move this great Union of ours to the highest pedestal, and make it the “people’s Union”.  

"Be rest assured that as National Leadership, we will continue to fight for the rights of workers, and the right to form or join a trade union for the protection of your economic interest which is the core of our mandate," he said.

"My special thanks go to our legal counsels, particularly our indefatigable legal luminary in the person of Albert Adaare, our social partners (national and international), the chief labour officer, the media, the police service and, above all, the host of our conference in the person of Professor John Kwaku Mensah Mawutor, Vice-Chancellor of UPSA, and his staff, for their immense contributions to how far we have come as a preferred Trade Union in Ghana," he said.

Based on the union's motto of “Unity is Strength”, Mr Ayawine emphasised unity among the rank and file, management and staff, and the entire membership of the great union as well as the leadership of all the structures to ensure smooth and successful operations of the union in the ensuing quadrennial.

"I thank the security services i.e. the police, for ensuring law and order, the media for their professional coverage, the conference committees, the IT team ...and all other persons who contributed to this great success.

"On this note, I once again say “Thank You”, to you al, for standing by us and for making this conference an outstanding success," he said.