‘Government will ensure good working conditions for workers’ - Dep. Finance Minister

The government will work to ensure that workers perform their duties with the right incentives and remuneration.

Mrs Abena Osei-Asare, Deputy Minister for Finance, said this on Thursday at an Organised Labour Forum, which was held in Accra.

She said government was forging ahead with plans such as strengthening the private sector to employ more people.

The Deputy Minister said with the private sector employing more than 60 per cent of the people, it was apt to strengthen the sector to serve as a boost for socio-economic growth.

She addressed concerns raised by participants and said government was working towards protecting the local industry by putting in place all the necessary measures that would enable the industries to compete favourably.

Mrs Osei-Asare said whilst calls were being made, for example, to ban the importation of items such as rice and chicken parts for local producers to yield maximum gains, it was important that stringent measures were put in place to ensure that the local industry was strong enough to supply the needed market without any compliment.

She said one key aim of the government was to ensure the well-being of the worker.

The Deputy Minister said once government was aware of the concerns of labour, those concerns would be factored into government policy to ensure the well-being of all workers.

Dr Yaw Baah, Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said the forum was basically to forge some understanding between workers’ unions within the country and the government, for the sake of national growth.

The TUC Secretary-General said he was optimistic that the concerns raised by members would be taken into account in the implementation of government policies.

Concerns raised by members included what they termed “the need to ensure that workers were taxed moderately.”

One key issue was the need to take off ‘the over-time tax.”

The members also called for the protection of local industries, through strong restrictions or outright bans on some imports.