TUC carries out three-hour nationwide demonstration

Accra (Greater Accra) -Hundreds of placard bearing workers on Tuesday took to the streets of Accra and other regional capitals in a demonstration against the government's failure to come up with an acceptable minimum wage.

Led by the Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Mr.Christian Appiah Agyei the workers wearing red armbands and headgear chanted war songs and blew trumpets in the three- hour demonstration.

They left the TUC offices at about 9.00 a.m. went through Liberty Avenue, Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Ringway Central to the Sankara Inter-Change and then to the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare where they presented a petition to the Minister.

The peaceful demonstration organised nation-wide was nearly marred when the police opened hot water cannons on the workers following what the police said was a negation of the approved route by a section of the workers.

Some of the placards read "JJ why have you disappointed us so soon?" "Stop the development of mass poverty in Ghana", "FCUBE plus high fees equals to no education", "What a great disappointment NDC?" and "No increment, no vote".

At the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr. Agyei said notwithstanding the agreements reached at the Tripartite Committee meeting on Monday the demonstration was not called off because the people are appalled by the worsening economic conditions.

He said the TUC will keep its side of the bargain as reached at the meeting and assured the Minister that the position of the Congress would be made known next Monday. He urged the other social partners to do likewise.

The demonstration, according to TUC sources, was a result of declining salaries of workers in the face of the falling value of the cedi against the country's major trading currencies in recent months.

Mr. Agyei protested against "the mood and spirit" of the statement released by Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni after the Tripartite Committee Meeting which he said failed to capture the entire proceedings especially the position of the TUC on the determination of a new minimum wage for workers.

"The statement did not include our side of the appeal to (the) government on the matter on hand". Mr.Agyei complained about the behaviour of the police during the demonstration saying, but for the tact and discipline of the workers, the peaceful event would have been marred.

He said he hoped next Monday's meeting of the Tripartite Committee would come on without any of the social partners taking a predetermined stand on the core issue.

At Kumasi, workers responsed to the call by the leadership of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), to embark on a three-hour demonstration.

The placard-bearing demonstrators, wearing red bands and some clad in black mourning cloth, started gathering in front of the regional TUC office at Mbrom as early as 0730 hours.

The demonstrating workers danced to music from brass band on the streets and chanted slogans, amidst cheers from a crowd of onlookers, causing a heavy traffic hold up.

They ended up at the Ashanti Regional Co-ordinating Council, where Ms. Dorcas Amuquandoh, Regional Secretary of TUC, presented a resolution to Mr. Joe D. Issachar, the Regional Co-ordinating Director, as both the Regional Minister and his deputy were not immediately available.

At Bolgatanga, the demonstrators carried placards some of which read, "no increase in minimum wage, no work, no vote," "stop playing politics with workers," "TUC is no enemy of the government," and "cost of living is very high".

They later presented a petition to the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. David Osei-Wusu, at the Regional Co-ordinating Council Offices.

At Ho in the Volta Region, the TUC called on the government to give workers a national minimum wage to reflect current economic conditions without delay and pre-conditions.

This is because the congress is resolved to sustain its struggle for a national minimum wage established through the tripartite mechanism.