Tema-Ghana, June 25, CDA Consult – The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL), has emphasized the necessity of reviving the organizational structure of the labour unions in order to improve the efficiency of their contacts with other tripartite partners.
The Federation stated that there was a need for more collaboration among labour movements in order to reach an agreement and strategically address the challenges affecting workers in the country.
Mr. Abraham Koomson, GFL Secretary-General made the remark at a media event that the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) observed in Tema over the weekend.
He emphasised that by uniting, the unions would be better able to fight for increased wages, more equitable working hours, and safer working conditions on behalf of all Ghanaian employees.
Mr Koomson said that because of globalisation, labour unions ought to be compelled to change the way they relate to the other tripartite members—the government, employers, and other labour unions.
Without jobs, there wouldn’t be any labour unions, the GFL Secretary-General stressed. At the moment, machines that use artificial intelligence are gradually taking the place of people as the primary producers around the globe.
Robots cannot be used to create workers’ unions, he declared, therefore we must alter our strategies for enlisting supporters and interacting with management and governments about labour issues. He continued by saying that artificial intelligence, digitization, and digitization have all become major issues for labour unions around the world.
Mr Koomson lamented the fact that, in the lack of mass representation, unions found it challenging to assert that parties bargaining on behalf of employees reflected the collective interests of substantial groups of people.
He continued, “When we have structures correctly positioned, issues will be discussed at levels—committee level, council level—and the acknowledged structures will be there, along with the representation to press for the public interest.
The GFL Secretary-General went on to remark that when unions have a significant base of support, they frequently represent the most efficient way to build collective bargaining power and thus, achieve more goals at all levels.
Additionally, he underlined the need of putting the needs of Ghanaian workers first and cautioned against political biases that can appear to impede the activities of the various unions.
The American unions, he said, had merged and were in a powerful position to fight for the rights of American workers, and it was past time for the unions to learn from them.
“We support democracy and freedom of speech, so it is impossible for us to agree that voting is better than not voting; that is the beauty of democracy,” said Mr. Koomson.
