"TUC interested in Oil and Gas sector" Togbe Drayi II

Koforidua, April 21, GNA - Togbe Adom Drayi II, the Head of Organizational Department at the Trade Union Congress (TUC), on Thursday said, the TUC as an organization, was interested in the Oil and Gas sector of the country.

He indicated that the TUC was of the opinion that the revenue that would be realized in the sector should benefit the people and workers of Ghana.

Togbe Drayi said the sector should be opened to the local people to empower Ghanaians, rather than foreigners, to control it so that the indigenes could have full and satisfactory benefit of its revenue. "If we do not take advantage, foreigners will come and take control of it and this means the Ghanaian worker could be abused" he noted, and called on Ghanaian workers and businessmen to invest in the sector.

Togbe Drayi was addressing workers at the first meeting of the New Juaben Municipal Council of Labour of the TUC, in Koforidua. He advised that students entering the tertiary institutions should be counselled to opt for studies in oil and gas to help build the human resource base needed for the sector. He advised institutions to establish courses in oil and gas so that students will get attracted to studying it. Togbe Drayi indicated that for the ordinary Ghanaian to enjoy the revenue from the oil and gas there must be transparency and accountability, since that would be the best way to address 93any future civil unrest."

He informed members of the union about the upcoming May Day celebration on May 01, with the theme 93Decent Work for Sustainable Development."

He said Ghanaian workers needed decency in their work, so that they could be motivated to work hard to raise the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) of the nation. Togbe Drayi further stressed that, this year's celebration, would be based on four key pillars, Social Protection, Social Dialogue, Workers Rights and Sustainable Income. He said if those four pillars were put in position, the Ghanaian worker could work soundly, happily and confidently for the progress of the country.

Togbe Drayi advised workers not to think that the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) was all about salary increases, but rather, it was based on job analysis and evaluation, where 93pay is related to job performance."

He also advised those who were yet to be migrated onto the SSSS, not to have high expectations, and that, they should not also blame the Fair Wages and Salary Commission (FWSC) for any anomaly, since the mapping was not done only by the commission, but involved several other institutions, including their respective institutions. 21 April, 2011