Ghana Mine Workers Union bemoans abuse of workers’ rights by foreign companies

The Ghana Mine Workers Union (GMWU) has bemoaned the continuous abuse of workers’ rights by employers, particularly foreign companies.

According to the union, the once vibrant workforce of the mining sector is dwindling at a faster pace due to the poor and deteriorating working conditions.

They contend, all attempts to ensure workers’ rights are protected have proven futile.

Speaking at the First Half Year Meeting of the GMWU in Accra, General Secretary, Abdul-Moomin Gbana called for an assessment of the labour laws to ensure sustainability and security of the sector.

“Ghanaian workers are constantly subjected to acts of intimidation and victimization by employers particularly foreign multinational companies for voluntarily exercising their inalienable rights to form and join trade unions”.

He alleged that some indigenes are aiding the impunity against workers in the sector.

“Strangely, these foreign multinational companies are aided by their Ghanaian collaborators, sometimes including high-level government officials, who are expected to know better but have chosen to become tools used by employers to stifle and frustrate workers’ rights for private gain at the expense of poor vulnerable workers”.

Touching on the termination of the appointments of the three local union leaders of Sunon Asogli, for deciding to join a trade union, Mr. Gbana disclosed that the affected workers are yet to be compensated.

“Till date, they stand outcast and vilified amidst all our laws as a sovereign state in 21st century Ghana. Sadly, two years on, this matter continues to be subjected to legal gymnastics and needless maneuverings in court by Sunon Asogli Power and their lawyers and further aided by the bureaucracies of the court system”, he said.

Meanwhile, the union made a passionate appeal to President Akufo-Addo and the Chief Justice to take keen interest in the matter by ensuring that the three union leaders are reinstated and their rights to form or join a trade union fully protected.