The re-elected Union Executives of Tex Styles Ghana (TSG) Limited, were on Monday cautioned not to lord it over the people, but to work diligently in order to deserve the confidence reposed in them.
Mr Morgan Ayawine, Acting Deputy General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (ICU), in charge of Operations, gave the warning when he swore the officers into office at the premises of the company in Tema.
He reminded them that as trade union leaders, they were chosen to serve in all humility to help achieve the set goals of the company.
The seven-member executive, including a lady, has Mr Emmanuel Cofson as Chairman and Mr Victor Okoe Adjetey as Vice Chairman.
The other are; Mr Ebenezer Mensah Secretary, Mr Matthias Hukporh, Assistant Secretary, Mr John Akalimwai, First Trustee, Mrs Joyce Otoo, Second Trustee and Mr Alfred Kpaku, Executive Member.
Mr Ayawine said employers and union leaders must work together to address the challenges affecting the smooth operations and fortunes of their respective companies.
He noted that the textile sector that use to provide a number of jobs for Ghanaians had over the years diminished in size, as a result of lack of good policy intervention by government.
Mr Ayawine said in order to arrest the decline and revamp the sector, there was the need to address major problems such as high cost of production, tax on imported raw materials and the influx of cheap imported fabrics into the Ghanaian market.
He pointed out that although the ICU hailed government's decision to procure all materials locally for the free school uniform programme for pupils, there was public suspicion that some of the uniforms were procured from outside.
Mr Ayawine said Ghana could not achieve a middle income status by 2020, if the country continued to rely on the buying and selling of foreign products.
"We cannot build a strong economy based on buying and selling foreign products dumped on our markets," he stressed.
Mr Ayawine urged the local union leadership of TSG and the workers, to foster a friendly and peaceful working relationship with Management, in order to address the numerous challenges affecting the fortunes of the company.
Mr Erik Van Der Staaij, Managing Director of TSG said the manufacturing environment in general and the textile sector in particular, had been hit by the global recession.
Mr Staaij lauded government for waiving the duty on many of the company's inputs, such as grey cloth and chemicals.
He expressed satisfaction that the relationship between the Union and Management would be based on dialogue.
Mr Staaij told the workers that the era of strikes, conflicts and violence was gone, and that "we should adopt the new paradigm as enshrined in the Labour Law (Act 651 of 2003)".
Mr Okoe Adjetey, Vice Chairman of the Union asked Management to take a second look at the End-of-Service Benefits of the company so that employees would retire with handsome packages and put smiles on their faces.
<<Print>>