Workshop for two Unions held in Tema

Tema, Feb. 24, GNA- Chairman of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Mr Alex Bonney has noted that discrimination and exploitation at work places and violation of workers' rights have become a global issue.

He mentioned labour market regulations and collective bargaining as important issues and said it was necessary for labour market institutions to ensure that fundamental worker rights and labour standards were not undermined.

He was speaking at a three-day workshop organised by the Institute of Local Government Studies in collaboration with Osun State Local Government Service Commission in Nigeria on "Appraisal and Evaluation Of Local Government Administration in Ghana and Nigeria. It had 70 participants from the Local Government Workers Union (LGWU) of the Trades Union Congress and the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).

Mr Bonney said the loss of jobs, rapidly declining of real wages, increased poverty and the destruction of the livelihood of many workers throughout the West African sub-region.

He said the "present kind of globalisation is clearly masterminded by corporate power and governments who ally with them" and this has brought destruction to many gains the trades unions have made. The TUC Chairman stressed the need for trade unions to take advantage of NEPAD to advance the cause of labour on the sub-region and the continent as a whole.

He said it was necessary for trade unions across countries to encourage co-ordination of trade union international development activities to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and views on key institutional policy issues at both the international and local levels. In a speech read for him the Local Government Service Commissioner, Osun State, Nigeria, Dr S.O Omotara commended the two organisations for organising the workshop designed to exchange ideas with the view to coming out with rich ideas that would make governments more responsive to the people.

Participants would be taken through discussions including Women's participation in Local Government, Current Local Government Administration, the Role of LGWU, Collective Bargaining and the LGWU as well as the District Assembly concept.