Accra, May 6, - The Ghana Mine
workers Union has called on government for a stakeholder forum on the Contract
Mining Policy to chart a road map for the sector.
The Union expressed concern for
government to support the Contract Mining module which jeopardised the future
of Ghanaian mine workers, stressing that government should have involved all
stakeholders to weigh all the options.
This was contained in statement
signed by Mr Prince William Ankrah, the General Secretary of the Union at a
get-together and raffle draw for members in Kumasi to mark May Day and copied
to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
Members of the Union won close to
200 items for the raffle draw which included; digital flat screen television
sets, refrigerators, gas-cookers, automatic rice-cookers, electric pressure
cookers, microwave ovens, electric kettles, among others.
Mr Ankrah said the Union's fear
was that, Mining companies want to short-change Ghanaian mine workers to
undermine its effort over the years to improve the remuneration package for
Ghanaian Mine workers.
He said indexation of the cedi to
the dollar used for the payment of remuneration for mine workers, was a brain
child of the Union after tough and fruitful engagement with stakeholders and
expected same from managements of mining companies.
“We will be tough on companies
that want to toy with the plight of mine workers. We are not here to bust any
company neither are we going to sit down and allow any company to toy with the
future of mine workers through exploitative tendencies for their corporate
greed.
As leaders and members of Union,
we are not against any company, all we saying is that treat the mine worker
fairly, who work hard to make sure we generate the wealth. We as union leadership and members are ready
to work with all stakeholders to ensure very serene labour relations. But
anything that seeks to exploit the mine worker and the family, the union cannot
be part of it. “
Mr Ankrah said the Union had at
various forums raised concerns about the precarious work environment being
forced on the Ghanaian mine worker and it appeared government was not
appreciating the dangers of contract mining and the effect it would have on the
Pay As You Earn (PAYE) which was a major source of revenue generation for the
country.
He cited an example that a
permanent worker who earned about the cedi equivalence of 900 dollars a month
was likely to receive half of that amount under contract mining when engaged on
fixed term, which would definitely have an impact on the PAYE and the pension
of the employee.
Mr Ankrah said even though mining
sector constituted under one per cent of the job market in Ghana, mine workers
accounted for 18 per cent of total PAYE in the country, because there was
appreciable salary level in the mining sector.
“Why allow work modules that will
make hard working Ghanaians go on retirement and live in poverty and misery
because of contract mining. Nobody is standing in the way of businesses to make
profit, but that should not be at the expense of better conditions of service
for employees”.
Mr Mensah Kwarko Gyarkari, the
National Chairman of the Union described the current appetite for contract
mining by some mining companies as an attack on labour and the improved
conditions of service for Ghanaian mine workers.
Mr Gyarkari said due to the good
package negotiated in the Collective Agreements, by the Ghana Mine workers
Union for members, some employers had decided to engage in work modules like
contract mining that would undermine the Collective Agreements.
He said the leadership would
engage in constructive dialogue with all social partners to do the right thing
to save the industry.
GNA
Caption Pictures attached
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