TUC strategize to meet challenges of pluralism

Ho, May 17, GNA - The top hierarchy of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) of Ghana is meeting in Ho to develop strategies to meet challenges posed by the new labour act's provision to allow workers to belong to unions of their choice.

Before the law, Act 651, passed in 2003, the TUC as the foremost Labour union in Ghana held sway over organized labour issues. Mr Kwasi Adu Amankwa, the TUC Secretary General, told the general secretaries of the various unions and sectional heads of the congress attending the three-day meeting that plurality under the new law had changed the environment making it imperative that the TUC developed policies to hold-its-own or be dismembered.

He said whenever there was a problem within a union, the refrain now was for a group in the conflict to suggest, "going separate ways". Mr Adu-Amankwa said while the new law was proper and in conformity with the constitution, it could promote schisms within unions. "This calls for conscious efforts of the unions to raise their technical aptitudes to manage disputes."

He said the bedrock of trade unionism was "solidarity" but this did not preclude disagreements that must be resolved with fairness to all sides. Mr Kofi Asamoah, the Deputy Secretary General, said a policy document on the prevention and management of disputes would be the final product of the meeting.