Upper West ICU deplores conditions at workplaces
The Upper West Regional Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) of the Trades Union Congress, Mr Nurudeen Mohammed, has expressed his worry over the refusal of certain private employers in the region to allow their worker to form unions.
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He said the continued refusal of employers to permit unions in their workplaces had left the workers poor and exploited.
Currently, he said, the few unionised groups in the region included the Ghana Progressive Beauticians and Hairdressers Association and the Ghana Beauticians and Hairdressers Association and unions in four rural banks operating at Sonzole, Nandom, Lawra and Sissala.
Threat of dismissal
Mr Mohammed said the intransigent entrepreneurs and proprietors used threats of dismissal of staff whenever they attempted to form unions at workplaces to press for better conditions.
“The situation is unacceptable and we are consulting widely to find ways of tackling the problem,” he said.
Without any major industrial concern operating in the region, formal employment avenues have come by way of hotels, restaurants, and other service sector businesses.
According to the ICU Regional Secretary, entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the smallness of the job market in the region to exploit the few who get onto their payroll.
“Those workers who attempt to form unions have been told to choose between becoming unionised and getting dismissed. This has left many workers in the region at the mercy of their employers, with some of them working under very difficult conditions,” he said.
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On October 7, labour unions across the country simultaneously marked the World Precarious Workers Day, and Mr Mohammed, reading a script on behalf of the general secretary of the ICU, appealed to the government to review the tax placed on overtime work in order to motivate workers to work beyond normal hours and work days.