Mining companies sack employees; re-engage them as casuals

Most mining companies operating in Ghana have engaged employees on short-term fixed contracts after sacking them in order to make enormous profits.

Kwarko Gyakari, National Chairman of the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union, has attributed the development to corporate greed by owners of the mines.

Speaking at the opening session of the Mineworkers’ Union National Executive Council meeting in Accra yesterday, Mr Gyakari said currently employers had adopted all kinds of precarious employment contract arrangements such as short-term fixed contracts, temporal and casual employment to the detriment of the working class.

“The high rate of outsourcing, dwindling public sector employees, high rate of unemployment and growing informal sector of the labour market have made the situation worse,” Mr. Gyakari said.

According to him, “Never in the history of working people have jobs become insecure, and factors accounting for this unfortunate situation are known to all of us.

“Again for the sake of Foreign Direct Investment, most labour legislation and regulations have been crafted or altered to meet their greed.”

Remuneration

Mr. Gyakari said that “Ghana Mineworkers Union is focused on addressing this glaring and unaccepted level of income inequality. This situation, if not well addressed, could challenge the peace this industry had enjoyed for the past year.”

He called for the adoption of a global compensation which seeks to maximize welfare and minimize recurrent cost to the industry.

“To stay relevant among these challenging periods, we must innovate new grounds for our union to continue to be attractive,” Mr. Gyakari said.

Gold prices plummet

In another development, the Ghana Chamber of Mines has disclosed that the current fluctuations in gold prices on the world market has made it difficult to put a definite price on the commodity.

The Chamber argued that mining companies and other industry players find it difficult making informed decisions using the price of gold due to the development.

It would be recalled that the election of Donald Trump as US President recently led to a significant rise in the price of gold, signaling strong performance of the commodity.

However, the subsequent drop in gold prices has buttressed the Chamber’s claims of the unpredictability of gold prices.