Mineworkers accuse Israeli company of flouting labour law

The Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMWU) has accused an Israeli mining contracting firm, Pollution to Water (P2W), of flouting the country’s labour laws with impunity.

A statement by Eric K. Gyima, Deputy General Secretary of the Union, says the company has for a year now resisted attempts by its workers to unionise in line with provisions of the Labour Act 2003(Act 651).

“Workers of P2W have used legitimate means to unionise, but the management of that company has persistently and arrogantly put impediments in the efforts of the workers to exercise their fundamental right to unionize”, it said.

The company employs a technology that treats polluted water and recycles it back to the mines for mining operations. It currently has offices in Obuasi, Tarkwa and Bogoso.

“While the GMWU lauds P2W for introducing such an important technology into the mining sector, it does not mean that the management should disregard the country’s labour law which seeks to ensure that there is industrial harmony”, said the Union.

The GMWU is demanding that the relevant state institutions, including the Chief Labour Officer, the National Labour Commission and the National Security Council, to take decisive action in enforcing the provision of the labour law especially, those relating to unionization by Ghanaian workers particularly in the mining sector.

“The GMWU would like to indicate that the anti-union posture by the management of P2W has the potential to degenerate into an unpleasant labour agitation by the workers. This obviously will not auger well for an otherwise harmonious and stable industrial relations in the mining sector”.

The Union has indicated its readiness “to employ and deploy every means available including strikes actions to compel the company to respect the workers fundamental right to unionise.