The streets of Accra today missed the usual early morning traffic as organized labour embarked on a nationwide strike to protest government’s economic mismanagement, poor fiscal policies and increased hardship in the country.
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 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.
According to the Secretary-General of the TUC, Kofi Asamoah, attempts to compel government address the worsening economic situation in Ghana have been disregarded by officials.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the TUC asked all workers in the Greater Accra region to converge at the Obra spot at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle this morning.
It also called on all employers and ordinary Ghanaians feeling the heat to join them in the protest.
Even though government had initially tried to get the group to forget about the strike with discussions and meetings, the protest still happened.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has abandoned its earlier request for Organised Labour to organise the protests on a regional basis; citing inadequate personnel to guarantee the safety of the protesters.
Below are quotes from TUC’s statement
“We communicated our intention to use all legitimate means 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 malaises 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 increased 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.
“Today 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”.