President Mahama, Organised Labour resolve to accelerate economic growth

The Government and organised labour have affirmed their resolve to collaborate to accelerate the growth of Ghana's economy and create more jobs.

President John Dramani Mahama and the Secretary General of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC), Mr Kofi Asamoah, made the commitment Friday, at the Flagstaff House, the seat of government, in Accra.

Representatives of unions which make up the Congress, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA) were at the Flagstaff House to congratulate President Mahama on his election victory.

They used the meeting to also discuss issues affecting organised labour.

President Mahama said the government's priority was to "accelerate the economy and create more sustainable jobs."

He said the creation of jobs was crucial, to cater for more students who graduated yearly and came onto the job market.

"We intend to expand the job market to give steady employment to the youth," he said.

President Mahama said the government alone, could not move the country from its lower middle income status to a fully fledged middle income level and neither could he.
Therefore, he said, the government would run an open-door policy and maintain the strongest contacts with all stakeholders.

He said organised labour was one of the critical stakeholders, and so the government would treat them with dignity and respect.

President Mahama impressed on the leadership of organised labour not be stringent but work to protect the interest of workers and create more job avenues.

He said the creation of more jobs would change the focus of organised labour from agitation, to collaborating with the government to create more jobs.

Mr Asamoah recalled that organised labour had a good working relationship with President Mahama when he was the Vice-President.

He expressed the hope that the relationship and level of cooperation would be strengthened now that he was the President.

The TUC Secretary General asked the President to put organised labour on an important level because they played an important role in the country.

"We hope that anytime there is an issue, the President will call us," he said.

Mr Asamoah assured President Mahama of the cooperation of organised labour, and stressed the need for workers to be given their fair share.

Story by Musah Yahaya Jafaru