AYEKOO, GHANAIAN WORKERS (MAY 3, 2010)

LAST Saturday, May 1, marked International Workers Day.
As is usually the practice world-wide, a number of events, including rallies, marches and symposia, were held to commemorate the event.
At the Independence Square in Accra, hundreds of workers from diverse occupational and professional backgrounds took part in a rally which saw in attendance, for the second time running, President John Evans Atta Mills.
The common theme for this year’s celebration was the need for intensification of international solidarity with working people the world over, especially in the face of the acceleration of the tempo of globalisation and its adverse effects on the working class.
It is worthy of note that in many countries across the globe the economic meltdown has unleashed a myriad of problems, including substantial job losses, depreciating incomes and falling standards of living.
While this has generally occurred in both the developed and developing countries, the effects have been more devastating for working people in developing countries who are usually at the receiving end of the global interaction.
Fortunately for us in Ghana, the consequences in terms of job losses and income cut backs, on a comparative basis, have not been so severe to cause social tension and dislocation.
In spite of the difficulties, most workers have retained their jobs, with some upward adjustments in income levels.
We are pleased to note that by July 1, this year, all things being equal, the incomes of workers are expected to appreciate and stabilise with the introduction of the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) which, among others, will make workers earn wages commensurate with their labour and at least more decent and rewarding than before.
We would wish to use the celebration of this important event to stress the importance of the call by President Mills for the forging of a strong partnership between the labour movement and the government in the quest for accelerated economic development, social justice and equal opportunities for all.
This is necessary, given that the government’s laudable objectives cannot be achieved without an atmosphere of sustained industrial peace and harmony
This is especially the case because industrial relations of today have gone beyond the resort to confrontation to the use of dialogue, mutual trust and co-operation based on a symbiotic relationship and the pursuit of the good of all.
We wish to appeal to the President, as a leader who listens, to give a prompt ear to the grievances and concerns of workers, including those from the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to which the government recently committed substantial resources to revamp and rescue it from its chronic indebtedness and mismanagement.
This will help strengthen the much needed partnership between labour and the government for the good and progress of our society.
We take this opportunity to urge workers to rededicate themselves to their respective jobs and the supreme national interest by, among others, enhancing productivity at their workplaces.
For it is only through enhanced productivity that we can create more wealth, share more among our people and enhance our standard of living.
Ayekoo, workers!