Speed up processes to review labour laws, Mine Workers
Temporary employment causing declining incomes and job insecurity in the mining industry
The Ghana Mine Workers Union has stated that it will aggressively oppose the country’s labour laws including the temporary form of employment its members are served.
He stated that the Union in collaboration with organized labour will do all it takes to have these concerns addressed because the practice is causing declining incomes and job insecurity in the mining industry.
Speaking to Joy Business on the sidelines of the May Day celebrations Funfair which sought to honor some industry players, General Secretary of the Mine Workers Association, Abdul-Moomin Gbana says the union will stop at nothing to ensure permanent employment for its members.
“We are aggressively considering how or looking at how we can cause or ensure labor law reforms. As we are already aware, the labor law act 651 is currently undergoing some review albeit snail-paced but what we are determined to do as Ghana Mineworkers Union and by extension organized labor is to ensure that we quicken the pace and to ensure that we are able to bring about the needed reforms that will also guarantee to a very large extent employment protection in this country.
However, research conducted by the Union revealed that for every increase in non-standard forms of employment, there is a corresponding decrease in standard employment or permanent employment in the sector with relatively inferior employment conditions.
The study further revealed that for every standard worker who exited the company in 2016, the same role is replaced with a non-standard worker with inferior employment conditions, undermining the decent work pillars.
According to him, the issue of non-standard employment is not only an issue of mineworkers but organized labour as a whole because it is a feature that is becoming a part and parcel of our labour market in this country so “we need to marshall all the forces we need to be able to wrestle this matter because it is about survival, if we don’t deal with this canker now, the future will be a major worry for us."
General Secretary of the Mine Workers Association, Abdul-Moomin Gbana