'AYEKOO', WORKERS

YESTERDAY, working people all over the world celebrated May Day, a day set aside to mark workers’ contribution to increased productivity.
In Ghana, organised labour and allied groups participated in the May Day Parade in Accra and other regional capitals. They carried placards on which they had expressed their frustrations at and appreciation of developments in the nation.
We celebrate the day in the belief that no economy can perform well without the contribution of working people.
It is equally true that society can only make progress in a peaceful and congenial atmosphere where the people can unleash their God-given talents on the development process.
Therefore, the theme for this year’s May Day celebration, “Deepening Democracy in Ghana: The Role of Organised Labour”, was very relevant because the country goes to the polls in December this year.
Workers, as the main producers of wealth and who are at the receiving end of any government policy, have been at the forefront in efforts aimed at articulating the concerns of society.
Democracy, with all its attributes, also promotes constructive dialogue on workers’ rights and welfare. Workers must get actively involved in the decision-making process so that they can offer their insights into efforts to fight the ills of society. If information is shared at the workplace, workers will keep their demands within the budget of their organisations, for they will know that we can only share what is available.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that positive steps must be taken to discount the erroneous impression that the relationship between management and workers should be adversarial. A peaceful industrial atmosphere will lead to increased productivity and better conditions of service in order to disabuse our minds that “the government pretends to be employing, while workers pretend to be working”.
In effect, all of us are collectively not doing enough to propel the economy into a middle-income status by the year 2015.
In order to achieve better conditions of service for ourselves, workers and their management must move away from pursuing any coercive agenda during negotiations of collective bargaining agreements.
To some groups of workers in the country, the only way to get better conditions of service is through the blackmail of industrial action.
On the contrary, the DAILY GRAPHIC believes that if organisations are managed in an open and transparent manner, working people will appreciate the challenges and be prepared to sacrifice for a better future.
Many organisations are pale shadows of themselves today or have collapsed as a result of the intransigence of their workers and sometimes their managers. As we make strides in our democratic dispensation, organised labour and management must also accept that the only way to progress lies in tolerance and accommodation.
We salute all working people on the occasion of May Day and appeal to them to rededicate themselves to selfless service to the nation.
When they fulfil their part of the bargain as working people, then they can demand accountability from their leaders, their management and, indeed, the government.