Trade unionist appeals to labour unions to unite

Mr. Morgan Ayawine, the Deputy General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) in charge of Operations, has urged labour movements in the country to unite against any attempt to undermine their relevance and existence.

Speaking at the end of a basic trade union seminar organised by the ICU for 34 representatives drawn from 16 local unions in the Metropolis, Mr. Ayawine said as protectors of employment and rights of workers, one of the primary concerns of trade unions was to see the creation of more employment opportunities.

He said creation of industries was the panacea to employment and economic emancipation but expressed regret that over-reliance on imports was killing industries.

Mr. Ayawine appealed to the government to make efforts to revive and sustain the textile industry.

He said “to resuscitate our industries and create more employment for the youth, we see it as our moral duty to add our voices to the dissenting voice against the ratification of the Economic Partnership Agreement with Europe, which will undoubtedly cripple our already dying industries.”

Mr. Ayawine also expressed concern about the anti-workers policy being pursued by some employers, especially the multi-nationals, in the form of Performance Evaluation, which he said, was quite inimical to the interests of workers.

“We see this as a strategy by the multi-nationals to make collective bargaining irrelevant and trade unionists of no consequence,” he said.**