MDU FIGHTS FOR DIC WORKERS

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday, October 20, 2016

The Maritime Dockworkers Union (MDU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has said the non-renewal licenses of five Destination Inspection Companies (DIC) by the government is wreaking havoc in the employment sector.

According to the MDU, the non-renewal of the licences has resulted in the loss of jobs for about 500 people who have been trained and gained experience in classification and valuation of imported cargoes.

A resolution reached at the end of the 12^th Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the MDU in Winneba recently said the MDU had made efforts through the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations and the Chief of Staff to seek the integration of these highly skilled and competent redundant employees in the new National Single Window system which replaced the Destination Inspection without success.

“Conference calls on government to work with MDU in the integration of the highly skilled and competent redundant employees in the new system to enhance revenue collection from importers,” the resolution said.

The MDU said they discussed the increasing cost of water and electricity and expressed concern about its effects on living conditions and survival of companies.

“The Conference notes further that salary increases of workers have not matched the level of increases in the price of utilities and expresses concern that the high prices of electricity and water have led to high cost of living and job losses,” and called on the government and the regulatory institutions “to give serious consideration to the low levels of incomes of consumers especially workers in determining tariffs of utilities.”

The MDU also waded into the currently debate over the impending public private partnership in the Electricity Company of Ghana by calling on the government “to abrogate the concessionaire arrangement in the electricity sector being implemented by MiDA because it is not in the interest of Ghana.” 

They also discussed the Volta Lake Transport Company problems including concern about the financial and managerial state of the company before calling on the government to invest adequate capital in VLTC and ensure that the company is managed efficiently.

“The Volta Lake presents a good opportunity for Ghana to develop a strong inland water transport system which would form an integral part of an intermodal transport system for transporting fuel and cargo from the south to northern parts of Ghana in addition to its socio-economic importance as an inland transport system between the north and south of Ghana.”

On the oil and gas sector, the MDU expressed “deep worry that Ghana has not reaped maximum benefits from the oil and gas sector in terms of employment opportunities because of the weak capacity for skills development that would be relevant in the oil industry.”

They also called for an effective regulatory framework for the oil and gas industry to engender transparency and accountability in the sector and also called for strict regulation of the activities of micro finance companies.