Regional Minister urges workers to help build stronger economy

Mr Henry Quartey, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, has appealed to workers to help build a stronger economy for the benefit of citizens.

"Let us work harder than before to enjoy the fruit of our labour," he said at the Regional Workers' Day held at Tema on the theme: “Economic Recovery in the Era of COVID 19, the Role of Social Partners.”

In a speech read on his behalf by Mr Felix Nii Annang-La, the Metropolitan Chief Executive of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), Mr Quartey encouraged workers to approach work with all seriousness.

“We need to embrace a new method of doing business and a new approach of managing our valued human resources," he said.

Mr Quartey said companies needed to rethink their strategies as they moved towards the recovery phase of COVID-19.

He urged stakeholders to get involved and never sit on the fence to rebuild the economy.

He expressed gratitude to Ghanaian workers for their immense contributions towards building the nation and for standing with the government for the past year in the fight against COVID 19.

"You have made a lot of sacrifices even to the point of putting your lives on the line for us, especially our frontline workers," he said

Mrs Freda Stephanie Frimpong, the Greater Accra Regional Secretary of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), who read the address of the Secretary-General of Organized Labour, appreciated the importance the government attached to labour relations and social partnership.

She said the leadership of Organized Labour solicited views from organised labour groups and major issues that came up were pensions, poor housing, delays in the negotiation of national minimum wage and base pay for public sector workers.

Other issues highlighted were the illegal mining menace and its effect on the economy and environment, threats of import, restrictions on Ghana's cocoa by the European Union, the inability of local buying companies to pay farmers for cocoa beans purchased, blatant violation of workers' rights by some employers with special reference to the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

The rest were non-payment of SSNIT contribution by some employers, the introduction of new taxes and increases in existing ones which imposed an additional burden on motorists and push up prices of basic items including food and non-adherence to health and safety standards to protect workers, especially in the construction and agricultural sectors.

She urged the government to pay more attention to these and other issues in the interest of peace at the labour front.