May Day marked

Vice President John Dramani Mahama saluting workers on May Day at the Independence Square in Accra.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday May 2, 2011.
The plight of street hawker was well articulated at this year’s May Day Parade held at the Independence Square in Accra with Vice President John Dramani Mahama as the guest of hounour.

TUC Secretary General, Kofi Asamoah in his address at the well attended parade made a strong case against forcible ejection of people selling on the streets by city authorities saying the low level of unemployment in the country is an indication of employment policy failure.

“Young men and women move from one street to another in our cities and other urban centers from morning till night selling all kinds of things just to survive. We do not believe that Ghanaians enjoy street hawking. Rather, street hawking has become a survival strategy in the absence of decent jobs.”

This year’s celebration was themed “Decent work for sustainable economic development.”

The TUC boss said majority of Ghanaians are working under very harsh conditions in the informal economy saying “they endure long hours of work yet they earn very low incomes from their labour,” while “workers of the formal economy receive take home pay that cannot take them home.”

He warned that if democracy fails to deliver decent work and improved living standards, the people can easily loose confidence in the political system saying “it is important that all the social partners including the government, workers and employers join hands to ensure that Ghanaians are guaranteed decent work.”

He said organized labour expects the government to take the necessary steps to facilitate the creation of decent jobs for the people, especially the youth whose aspirations for a bright future are dashed from day to day.

Mr. Asamoah lamented the poor working conditions of workers in the country saying “many workers are dying on the job and others suffer various degrees of disabilities while at work”

Addressing the charged workers on behalf of President John Evans Atta Mills, who the Vice President said was partaking in a similar parade in Tamale, the Vice President said promised that the government will migrate all public sector workers unto the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) by September 2011.

He said that 33 institutions, representing 66 per cent of the total public sector workers have successfully been migrated onto the SSSS and that the number was expected to increase to 90 per cent in June, 2011.

The Vice President said, one of the challenges facing the implementation of the new pay policy was that the it (policy) constitute the largest expenditure demands on the budget, given the economic deficit it inherited from the NPP it was going to be a difficult policy to implement.

“We have cause to commend ourselves; prudent management of the economy has brought the deficit substantially under control and made the economy better able to absorb the new policy,” he said.

Whiles commending organized labour for the good faith shown so far in the implementation of the SSSS, the Vice President hoped other workers who are yet to be migrated unto the new pay policy, will show similar faith till the end of the process.

Mr. Mahama regretted the low productivity which he said “remains embarrassingly low in the sub-region” and challenged workers to be committed towards increased productivity.

Kofi Bonney, Chairman of the TUC who chaired the parade said social dialogue between the government and organized labour is crucial saying “full employment is the best protection and jobs are the best welfare.”