Organised labour goes on nationwide strike next Thursday

Organised Labour has fixed next week Thursday to embark on a nationwide strike in what could be the biggest demonstration by Ghanaians against government’s economic mismanagement, poor fiscal policies and growing hardship in the country in the last 15 years.

Organised Labour, made up of the 18 affiliates of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and professional bodies and associations in the country, explained that the nationwide strike- which could bring economic activities and government business to a halt- is intended to signal to the ruling party of labour’s disapproval of the recent hikes in petroleum and utility charges as well as the prevailing economic and social conditions.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, a visibly-charged Kofi Asamoah, Secretary-General of the TUC, said attempts to coerce government to act decisively on addressing the worsening economic situation in Ghana have been disregarded and played-down by government officials.

“We (have) communicated our intention to use all legitimate means in the coming days to express in the strongest possible terms, labour’s disapproval of not only the current pricing regime for fuel and other utilities, but equally importantly, the prevailing economic and social conditions in the country.

“In the view of Organised Labour, governance cannot be separated from the current economic and social malaise we face in this country…Our government have a duty to ensure that their economic policies do not compromise the wellbeing of Ghanaians.

“Contrary to this, our government has consistently incrsaed utility tariffs, prices of petroleum products and implemented a number of measures and policies without recourse to their social impact on the people. There have also been no provisions to mitigate their effects…In these difficult economic and social times, workers have nobody to turn to but government. Indeed government must take responsibility and act appropriately.

“The economic situation has moved from bad to worse and it is deteriorating by the day. There seem to be no end in sight…Times are really hard for working people and indeed majority of Ghanaians and the prognosis on the economy is not good either. As we have stated consistently, there is a limit to what working people and Ghanaians can take.

“As a demonstration of our serious concern over the existing state of affairs, Organised labour declares a one-day nationwide protestation on Thursday July 24, 2014. On that day, all workers in Ghana, formal and informal, are to stay away from work and converge at designated locations in Accra and other regional capital to demonstrate,” he said.

Since the year began, prices of petroleum products have been adjusted upwards by four times, which sums up to about 40 percent as a result of the slide in the cedi -- which has depreciated by about 30% against the US dollar.

The fall in the value of the Cedi also caused Ghana’s Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC) to hike utilities tariffs by 12% and 6.1% for electricity and water respectively.

Additionally, inflation hit 15% in June from 13.5% at the start of the year.

More so, the Central Bank’s Policy Rate- which signals interest rate trends- has gone up for the second time this year from 18% to 19% as the Bank of Ghana moves to tighten its monetary policy in a bid to control inflationary pressures expected from the recent increase in utility tariffs and transportation costs as well as the depreciation of the Cedi.

Businesses also are now confronted with intense erratic power supply across the country, which has shot up their cost of operations.

The Private Enterprise Federation (PEF), which is the umbrella-body of private businesses, has described the sentiments and mood of businesses in the economy as “horrible”, “Shocking”, and “deteriorating”.

The Bank of Ghana has also expressed concerns about the waning consumer and business sentiments as well as tightened credit conditions that could impact on the general economic outlook.

Recently, attempts by some Ghanaians to protest against the growing economic uncertainties and hardship have been mocked by government officials with Ghana’s Foreign Affairs and Regional integration Minister, Hannah Tetteh, tweeting: “Occupy Flagstaff House Crowd. The numbers were ...well never mind. Every citizens concerns are important, but after listening to all of them being aired on radio and seeing the number involved it surprising. Their social media campaign was much more effective than the actual turnout,” to describe the attendance by #OccupyFlagstaffHouse demonstrators.

By Evans Boah-Mensah | B&FT Online | Ghana