The Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance Workers Union (UNICOF) is calling for de-politicization of national issues to allow Ghanaians with great minds to spell out pragmatic ideas that will help turnaround the economy for accelerated development.

“We need to come out with a blue print after a broad dialogue which will help us to accelerate the growth of the country”, General Secretary, John Esiape disclosed ahead of the May Day Celebrations today.

According to him, consuming local goods will lead to the creation of more firms, jobs and boost the stability of the Cedi because the trade deficit will narrow.

Citing an example, he said it was not prudent for the nation to continue to import refined petroleum products despite producing oil and owning an oil refinery, adding “there is something basically wrong with us as a nation.”

Mr. Esiape advised government to sit up and lead efforts at establishing a self-reliant economy, expressing unhappiness with the current depreciation of the Cedi to the US Dollar and calling for a paradigm shift of the economy from its current state.

He agreed with the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC's) call that the Economic Partnership Agreement being negotiated with the European Union should be suspended and government's decision on the agreement informed by the outcome of a debate by all interest groups for the way forward.

He also supported the TUC’s call for salaries and conditions of workers to be reviewed upwards to be in tandem with the current economic conditions.

On the automatic adjustment formula for reviewing utility tariffs and petroleum products, the UNICOF’s General Secretary challenged the nation’s utility and petroleum agencies to take a second look at the review, noting labour will react fiercely against any upward adjustments. That nobody should be surprised if Labour comes out with its own automatic formula to offset the hardship of workers.

He however applauded GCB and ADB especially their leadership for their sterling performances so far, saying this demonstrates that Ghanaians have the requisite skills to turn things around. He noted that nobody gave these Banks dogs chance a few years ago.

Going forward, he explained that UNICOF will continue to protect the interest of labour and Ghanaians despite the continuous criticisms labour unions receive.

“With God on our side and the professional approach, we will get there one day”, he added.