A salute to our workers

As we take the day off to relax and celebrate this day marked for the toiling masses let us look back and put it into context. We the toiling masses are not much respected . That is why we are called by many names from “ verandah boys” to “shoe shine”. So let me quote the sayings of some world leaders and thinkers on this issue . Samuel Gompers says “ Workingmen are the foundation of society. Show me the product of human endeavor in the making of which the workingman has had no share and I will show you something society can well dispense with. So how do the powers that be ,view the’ foundation” of society? In the years that went by and the CPP included , the working class was the vanguard of the society . The victory of the CPP was built around the “common man”, as opposed to the elite , a group that felt entitled and saw the working person as scum . It is seen today in the disdain but also fear of the working person .There is a conflict of interest between the elite (haves) and have nots The numerous State enterprises that were started was to consolidate the power of the working class under the CPP government. It is there fore a big pity that these state enterprises were left to rot after the coup or have been mismanaged and continue to be mismanaged to undermine the working person. It represented the disempowerment of the working person . That is why the working person needs to be vigilante against the noveau riche which we used to call the “bourgeoisie”. The dichotomy of the common person and the elite permeates all societies which is why May day is marked internationally. Its aim is summed up by the Late President Samora Machel , May day represents an International solidarity . The International solidarity is not an act of charity. It is an act of unity between allies fighting on different terrains toward the same objective. The foremost of these objectives is to aid the development of humanity to the highest level possible” .These are represented by parties that are socialist or social democrats
Let us look at development which we define as the process of change: the changing and becoming larger, stronger, or more impressive, successful, or advanced, or of causing somebody or something to change in this way. Then we see human development as including issues such as the extent to which development occurs through the gradual accumulation of knowledge versus stage-like development, or learning through experience. Many researchers are interested in the interaction between personal characteristics, the individual's behavior, and environmental factors including social context, and their impact on development”. Today’s world is knowledge driven and globalized , hence poses a greater challenge for the worker and his/her competiveness. So to get to the highest level and lead to social mobility there must be avenues and motivation for accumulating knowledge. This knowledge let me point out should be relevant, practical and easy to apply . A lot has been said about STEMIC type of education . If our scientists are not innovating , we need to find out why. If our system are not suitable , we need to ask why . If our leaders are not being visionaries we need to ask why. If our chiefs are stuck in the past and instead of being development agents, are impediments, we need to ask why. If after 56 years we still earn a dollar a day , we need to ask why. If we cannot write books , we need to ask why. If we do not read we need to ask why. If we have housing shortage we need to ask why. We need to ask why we have to import food, clothes ,expertise, after 56 years
So as I end let us see what labor wants and to quote again Samuel Gompers “ We want more schools and less jails, more books and less arsenals, more learning and less vice, more leisure and less greed, more justice and less revenge. In fact more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures” .

Labor cannot achieve its aims by sitting back while people loot the state, which is why State Fisheries , Black Star line, Ghana Airways, and a whole host went down under . Do the workers realize it is their property being looted and being disempowered? Labor demands that instead of only one TOR, with population increase there should be a second , labor demands the efficient running of our textile factories, labor demands food security , and labor demands good drinking water, good sanitation, constant electricity . Let labor UNITE and make its voice heard. Let labor remember democracy demands from them eternal vigilance . Let labor remember they are the best protectors of their interests and the interest cannot be abdicated to the politician .As you watch the unfolding of the fight by the elite in the Supreme Court , remember where you are. In the Zongos, Sodom & Gomorrahs, in the villages and hamlets all across the country. The elite do not represent you but themselves. We need to mobilize to move forward and so need unity and peace. Workers rise up and demand your rights . Let those who are “sitting well “ not retard progress

Adam Smith has this to say ‘Labor was the first price, the original purchase money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labor, that all wealth of the world was originally purchased’. Long live our workers and may you device ways to be more productive

The writer is an Nkrumaist , who believes it is only through African Unity that Africa will overcome its state of underdevelopment