Arthur Kennedy's Mayday Message

SOLIDARITY MESSAGE TO WORKING PEOPLE ON MAY DAY BY ARTHUR KOBINA KENNEDY

To all who work, greetings!

On the occasion of this historic day in this historic year for our nation, it is important to reflect on the place of those whose toil and sweat has brought our nation to this point.

Despite the progress by the NPP administration in stabilizing our economy over the last six years, Ghana still faces significant challenges on the labour front.

Unemployment, at more than 20% is too high.

Pay and benefits, compared to the cost of living for most Ghanaians, is still too low.

Productivity, which has been low historically, has been reduced further by the power-shedding that is currently in progress.

The clearest signs of these difficulties are the frequent stories in our newspapers about labour unrest published almost daily and the persistently high desire on the part of our citizens to leave our shores for greener pastures elsewhere. To address these important problems, we must promote aggressive job-creation, improve productivity and find creative ways to improve the working conditions and long-term economic security of working people.

On job-creation, the Youth Employment Program is a good start but we need more permanent jobs that will pay a living wage.

To promote job-creation, there must be public works (infrastructure, electricity and water) to give investors the foundation they need to invest. Furthermore, we must enforce our laws and protect private property more effectively. Also, we must reduce the regulations that impede business formation and access to capital. Then we must fight to open markets both at home and abroad for our products while creating optimal opportunities for the training of our youth and working people throughout their careers. While making these changes, we need to accept that governments while inefficient and therefore not as effective as the private sector in job-creation, has a critical role to play. It can reduce corruption, enact progressive laws, enforce laws speedily and fairly ban child labour and insist that women get paid equally with men for equal work. In addition to these traditional roles, our government must be prepared to be aggressive partners with the private sector in areas that are critical to our growth and may require capital or involve risks that private capital may be unwilling to bear alone. An example of such a sector is energy.

Improving productivity is the pre-requisite that will make possible the living wages that all workers want and deserve. To improve productivity, there should be a vibrant partnership between our labour leaders, management, government and our universities to teach our youth the skills of the future and our workers on-going skills underpinned by technological and scientific innovations in our schools and universities. For example, the over 200 thousand mechanics of “SUAME MAGAZINE” have kept vehicles on our roads long past their natural life-times through their ingenuity. Today, as more and more vehicles get computerized, their productivity is decreasing. We must find a way of giving them basic training in computers that will maintain their productivity. This can be done by financing a partnership between them and an institution of higher learning, like KNUST or Kumasi Polytechnic. This coupled with credit facilities will keep Magazine at the nerve-center of our transportation industries for years to come.

To improve the working conditions of working people and provide them with economic security, we must invest in their education and health and initiate a housing scheme that will help the average worker retire with accommodation.

We should consider interest-free loans for University education coupled with grants for workers to upgrade their skills. On healthcare, we should consider encouraging all employers, including government to pay the registration fees for the NHIS for their employees to facilitate access to the very laudable insurance scheme.

On economic security, I propose that every worker who has worked for at least fifteen years be eligible for borrowing half of his/her retirement savings to be matched by government and used as down-payment for a low-cost house or apartment. The difference will be paid for through monthly deductions during the rest of the worker’s career. The goal will be to have 80% of workers retire with houses or apartments that they own free and clear.

Ultimately, however, there must be a cultural shift in our society towards the aggressive and unapologetic support of local industries and businesses. While we need and must welcome foreign capital, we must reserve certain areas of our economy to local businesses and assist them to compete with their foreign counterparts. Together, we must ensure that our investment policies do not, perhaps innocently harm indigenous businesses and job-creation. Happy celebration to you all and this MAY DAY, May God bless you as you help build a better Ghana!

ARTHUR KOBINA KENNEDY 29TH April, 2007 Accra