TUC considers establishing Labour Banks

The Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) has stated that it is in the process of adopting a resolution to establish labour banks across the country to provide flexible credit facilities to support workers in their quest to acquire their own houses.

Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah, Secretary-General of the TUC, who disclosed this at the opening of the 10th quadrennial delegates’ conference of the Timber and Wood Workers Union (TWWU) of the TUC in Kumasi, was speaking at Kumasi.

He said the aim of establishing the labour banks was to relieve workers of high rent charges and provide decent homes for those who retired from active service.

The three-day conference was themed, “Sustainable forest management in the changing world of work: The role of the union.”

The TUC General Secretary also called for unity among workers to help sustain the strength and solidarity in the fight for better conditions of service for all.

Touching on the issue of forest management, Dr. Baah asked union members in the agricultural and forestry sectors to strengthen the collaboration and fight against the destruction of Ghana’s forests.

According to him, Ghana’s soil and the forests were under severe threat due to their reckless degradation and devastation.

He therefore advised workers to demonstrate greater dedication and work out joint strategies that would promote sustainable forest management to warrant sustainable and decent work for them.

Acting General Secretary of TWWU, Mark Ofori Asante, in an address, stressed the need for members of the union to embrace using modern technology and social media platforms to educate the public on the need to protect the forest.

He said reducing forest losses, promoting increased tree planting in communities and limiting human-caused disturbances of the forest were the surest way to guarantee sustainable and decent work in the forest and agricultural sectors.