Organised Labour is to embark on a nationwide strike to back their demand for an outright ban on small-scale mining as a measure to halt the illegal mining menace in the country.
The industrial action takes effect from Thursday, October 10.
The decision was arrived at after a crunch meeting by the labour unions in Accra Tuesday, following the expiration of the September 30 deadline given to the President to declare a state of emergency over galamsey.
A statement signed by the Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Joshua Ansah, and the Deputy General Secretary of the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL), Kenneth Koomson, called on all workers to stay at home beginning Thursday, October 10, 2024, until the government acceded to their demand.
The statement explained that the industrial action had become necessary because of the government’s failure to meet their demands on galamsey.
Following the expiration of the deadline, Organised Labour held an emergency meeting in Accra at which they resolved to lay down their tools to exert pressure on the government to act with immediate effect.
Implications
There will be an imminent shutdown of the economy if Organised Labour, made up of labour unions in the public and private sectors, carry out the industrial action.
The implication of the strike is that TUC and all its 21 affiliate national unions with membership across all the sectors of the economy, will lay down their tools.
Some of the unions under organised labour are GFL, Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT), Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG), Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG), Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), and Ghana Medical Association (GMA).
The others are the National Association of Registered Midwives (NARM), Government Hospitals Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA), University Teachers Association (UTAG), Technical Universities Teachers’ Association of Ghana (TUTAG), Technical Universities Administrators Association of Ghana (TUAAG), and Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU).
Grace period
Meanwhile, the General- Secretary of GFL, Abraham Koomson, told the Daily Graphic that if the government responded positively to the demands of organised labour within the nine-day grace period, the group would reconsider its decision to lay down their tools.
He stressed that the only miracle that could stop the strike was the President declaring a state of emergency over galamsey and subsequently banning small-scale mining.