Acquire requisite information to counter wrong narratives of Ghana’s history

Unionists and workers have been urged to equip themselves with needed information to counter wrong narratives of Ghana’s history.

Professor Akua O. Britwum of the School of Development Studies and Human Resources, University of Cape Coast, said such a decision had become necessary, particularly when “consistent efforts are being made to write certain men out of our national accounts and project undeserving elements in a bid to legitimize the looting of national assets into private property.”

“You must be curious to acquire the needed information to counter it and for now more than ever. Our national integrity, survival, and indeed the soul of the nation depend on adequate information to recapture this rewriting of our national history.

The Professor who made the comments at the launch of TUC’s 75th Anniversary Book and Documentary Film in Kasoa in the Central Region, said,”…because it is not inadvertent but a deliberate attempt to legitimize the looting of national resources and it is only in taking such an approach that we can counter this problem.”

Prof. Britwum, also the author of TUC’s 75th Anniversary Book, titled, “TRADES UNION CONGRESS: Seventy-five Years of Protecting Workers’ Rights (Achievements, Challenges, and Prospects), said a sincere appreciation of a nation must be centered around experiences of its working people and not individual leaders.

She said those without a voice in the country were looking up to the TUC to speak out and put those in authority on their toes.

“One of the things TUC has is a better understanding and clarity of the connection between the international political economy and the national political economy and because your members are in the workplaces, you also understand how kleptocracy undermines our resources”

“It is only you as an organized movement with legitimacy and clout that can voice what is wrong and point out solutions,” she said.

Prof. Britwum encouraged the leadership of TUC to develop digital versions of the book to reach a wider audience.

Mr. Alex Opoku-Nyarko, Chairman of TUC, thanked all who played a pivotal role in making the writing and publication of the book a success.

He urged members to devote themselves to reading the book to become abreast of their history.

The book, “TRADES UNION CONGRESS: Seventy-five Years of Protecting Workers’ Rights (Achievements, Challenges, and Prospects), strings the seventy-five-year existence of TUC Ghana and adds to the previous work, "The Ghana Trades Union Congress: Sixty Years of Promoting Workers' Rights."

It takes the reader through events that led to the creation and development of TUC Ghana from colonial rule in the Gold Coast to 2020 and highlights the crucial role TUC Ghana played in the fight for independence.

The book explains how various states, from colonial to civilian and military, have developed and affected the industrial relations environment in which the structures of the TUC Ghana have developed.

The development of each of the 21 national unions of the TUC Ghana is featured in the book. It notes that the characteristic feature of these national unions' development has been splits and mergers.

The book documents the struggle of TUC as a social institution with patriarchy, focusing on its attempts to deal with its gender democracy deficit over the years.