The Secretary-General of the Ghana Trades Union Congress, Kofi Asamoah, has expressed concern about the re-emergence of the issue of breakaways from recognised unions.
He says the resurgence of this phenomenon threatens the unity, solidarity and power of the trade union movement.
At the centre of this challenge, Mr Asamoah noted, is the lack of attention to membership education, as well as membership engagements and interaction. The GTUC Secretary-General made the observation at the 11th Quadrennial Delegates’ Conference of the Health Services Workers’ Union in Kumasi. It was under the theme ‘Fifty Years of Organising – Consolidating the Gains or Greater Prospects’.
Mr Asamoah said it behoves leadership of Organised Labour to prioritise the training and education of its members about the ethics and legacies of trade unionism that inform current practices and culture.
It is also important for leadership to meet the rank and file at the workplace and within the structures of the union from time to time, adding that the unions must once again be built from the districts and regions to the workplaces.
Mr Asamoah emphasised that the vacuum created by lack of constant engagement and membership education must be bridged as a matter of urgency. Otherwise, a little misunderstanding can spark a huge division that can result in a breakaway.
The General-Secretary of the Health Services Workers’ Union, Abu Kuntulo, noted that the conference is taking place at a time the labour movement is confronted with many challenges such as high cost of living, energy and power crises, coupled with periodic utility tariff increases, the issues of adequate pensions for union members and the full implementation of the newly signed Collective Agreement between the union and the Ministry of Health and its agencies.
He said the union will, however, collaborate with the leadership of the GTUC, Organised Labour and other social partners within the public service to find amicable solutions to these challenges.
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