The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL), and the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC), have urged multinational enterprises (MNEs) to prioritise the welfare of workers by providing them with good working conditions.

Kenneth Koomson, the Deputy Secretary General of GFL, and Abdul-Moomin Gbana, the General Secretary of the Ghana Mineworkers Union of the TUC, made the call as panel members at an International Labour Organisation (ILO) high-level corporate national dialogue for the realisation of decent work in Ghana in Multinational Enterprises (MNEs).

Koomson said: “It’s not just about being employed,” but good conditions of service, and social dialogue, among other provisions, were very important in the provision of decent work.

He added that even though such provisions were in very conventional policies, multinational enterprises do not follow them.

“In practice, it is different. They are big boys, and they think the employment given to Africans is a privilege to the people,” he said.

According to him, even though the ILO had made it clear in its conventions that labour is not a commodity, such companies were seeing their workers as commodities, adding that “now they are even exporting us like goods.”

Mr Koomson also noted that to avoid responsibilities to workers, most of these companies had resorted to casualisation and contracting, revealing that a company employing about 800 workers or 500 workers, respectively, has 100 and 50 as permanent staff, while the others are either casuals or contract workers.

He disclosed that the Labour Bill in front of Parliament, if passed, has provisions enjoining third-party recruiting companies to provide the workers with entitlements such as the formation of a union and other provisions.

Gbana, on his part, said stakeholders must be sincere to themselves in tackling the issues on the ground, stating that “we need to be sincere and honest with ourselves, or workshops will be talk shops.”

He said the nexus between what was happening downstream and upstream starts from the top due to what the multinationals were told when being wooed, indicating that they come in with one mindset of making profit, therefore prioritising profit over the people they work with.

“Right from the onset, an employer must be made aware of the rights of the worker; permanent employment is no longer existing. It is important that we deal with the issues from policy and legal sides to ensure that MNEs from the onset are clear on what is required of them,” he added.

The dialogue held in Tema was on the theme: “Promoting Sustainable, Responsible and Inclusive Business Practices in Ghanaian Industries.”