TUC to merge some unions

The Trades Union Congress(TUC) is considering a merger of some of its member unions which perform almost similar functions and fall under a particular category of trade.

The Deputy Secretary General of the TUC in-charge of Operations, Mr Kofi Asamoah, who announced this said the idea of the proposed mergers was not to deny the rights of individual unions, but to avoid fragmentation and duplication of duties.

Mr Asamoah was speaking at the third-quarter Eastern Regional Executive Council meeting of the TUC at Koforidua.

He noted that in this era of competition, there was the need for identical trade unions to pool resources to ensure efficient provision of service to its members.

Mr Asamoah identified some of the unions, which could easily be merged as those in the transport industry such as railways, civil aviation, road transport and marine.

He said the leadership of the TUC was currently discussing the forms the merger would take, its objectives and resources needed for effective operation.

He reiterated the call by the TUC to Parliament to institute an enquiry into allegations of malfeasance levelled against the Management of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to ensure that workers were not denied their proper pensions.

Mr Asamoah further called for the review of the SSNIT law and the re-introduction of the End of Service Benefit(ESB) to workers to ensure decent and comfortable retirement.

He stressed the commitment of the TUC to ensure democratic governance in the country and said it would soon embark on a nation-wide education campaign on good democratic governance and debt cancellation.

The Deputy Secretary General appealed to workers to constantly study to upgrade their academic standard to enable them to contribute meaningfully to national debates.

The Eastern Regional Secretary of the TUC, Mr Harry Pierterson said the Union was reorganising itself to enable members at the local levels to participate in its activities.