GTP lays off over 200 workers for mechanisation

One of Ghana’s leading textile companies, Ghana textile print (GTP) has laid off over 200 workers just after the Christmas and New Year festivities.

General secretary of the Industry and Commercial Workers Union (ICU), Solomon Kotei, in an interview with GhanaWeb attributed the loss of jobs to technological change, adding that the introduction of labour-saving machines and more efficient mechanical-minded processes.

According to Solomon Kotei, ICU intervened with a successful negotiation to ensure the initial number intended to be laid off was reduced.

He also added that those who were finally laid off in January this year were remunerated with their redundancy packages as required by law.

Kotei has however also commended the management of GTP for re-strategizing to survive in a rather competitive Ghanaian textile market influx with foreign companies.

He noted the textile industry is at the brink of collapse because of over liberation.

The textile industry, which was once the leader in Ghana’s industrial sector, has been declining over the years largely due to trade liberalization policies and programmes, making it impossible for Ghana’s textile products to compete with cheap imports from Asia.