The Ghana Mineworkers’ Union of Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Ghana has called on President Nana Akufo-Addo to ensure the reviewed Labour Act is passed into law before he leaves office on January 7, 2025.

During the second-half National Executive Council meeting in Accra, the Union’s leadership emphasised the urgency of addressing long-standing challenges faced by workers in Ghana.

The General Secretary of the Union, Abdul-Moomin Gbana, in his address, highlighted the precarious state of employment in Ghana, characterised by a shift from standard to non-standard forms of employment, including casual and temporary work.

He said this trend, coupled with indiscriminate outsourcing, has left workers vulnerable to job insecurity, low employment protection, and inadequate social safety nets.

"It is against this backdrop that the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union staged a spirited campaign over the past five years, calling the government’s attention to the urgent need to review the current Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) to deal comprehensively with the implementational gaps and challenges to make it responsive to the changing needs of the actors in the industrial relations space," the General Secretary stated.

The Union urged President Akufo-Addo to prioritise the passage of the new Labour Bill, which it said would offer Ghanaian workers much-needed protection and fairness in the evolving industrial landscape.

"We are therefore calling on the President of the Republic, to cause the passage of the New Labour Bill into law before he leaves office on 7^th January 2025," Mr Gbana said.

Turning to corruption, Mr Gbana described it as a “deadly cancer” that continues to undermine Ghana’s development.

He cited alarming statistics from IMANI, which indicated that Ghana loses $3 billion to corruption annually, equivalent to the amount the country is seeking from the International Monetary Fund.

"Drawing from IMANI’s conservative estimate, one can say observably that Ghana has lost over US$90 billion to corruption since the Fourth Republic with the governance of the state alternating between the two major political parties – the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP)," he stated.

He challenged trade unions to take a more active role in combating corruption.

“..The time has come for trades unions to break the loud silence and speak up more vigorously in dissent on key national policy issues in general but more particularly on corruption and corruption-related offences,” the General Secretary said.

Mr Gbana pledged that the Union will spearhead anti-corruption campaigns starting in 2025 aimed at clamping down on corruption.

“The resources of this country belong to all of us .....and not for NDC or NPP, or any other political party.” the General Secretary added.