Union calls for inclusion of stakeholders in decision-making

Accra, Oct. 21, GNA - Mr. Emmanuel Amstrong Mensah, General Secretary of the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers' Union (GTPCWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has accused the government of sidelining it in decisions affecting the fate of the national airline, Ghana Airways.

He said although the idea to restructure and revamp the Ghana Airways was in the right direction, there should be enough transparency "for all to be well informed" on the issues so that at the end of the day, there will be a collective responsibility.

Mr. Mensah, who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra on Thursday said, the practice where the authorities take decisions before inviting the views of Unions, as stakeholders in the enterprise, was not in the spirit of the new labour law and therefore unacceptable.

He said Trades Unions did not exist only for wage negotiations and settlement of industrial disputes.

Mr. Mensah said in the past, the Union made representations to the Ministry of Roads and Transport to recognize it as stakeholders in the sustenance of the national carrier but to no avail.

He said if the GTPCWU had been involved in the discussions regarding the fate of the national carrier it would have sourced information from other sources such as the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) on how to secure an appreciable deal in the interest of the nation

The ITF is an umbrella organization where all workers in the aviation, road transport, marine and dockworkers, as well as tourism industry, operate as affiliates.