It said, such subterfuge includes re-organisation, amalgamation,
takeovers, and outsourcing to concentrate on core business and thereby,
cut down on operational costs and maximize profits at the expense of the
Ghanaian worker.
Commercial Workers Union (ICU), who presented the statement on behalf of
the Council to mark the day, noted that, such ploys at times took place
in collusion with employment agencies, which later recruit the workers
on casual basis.
The statement titled: ?From decent work to precarious work: the
case of the Ghanaian worker?, was signed jointly by the Mr Kotei, on
behalf of the ICU, Mr Prince Ankrah of the Ghana Mine Workers Union
(GMWU) and Fuseini Iddrisu of the General Transport, Petroleum and
Chemical Workers Union (GTPCWU).
The ICU-Ghana, the GMWU and the GTPCWU constitute the Industrial
Liaison Council of Ghana.
Mr Kotei described the precarious worker as one, who occupies
permanent position but denied permanent employee rights, which include
reduction in salaries/wages and deprivation of social insurance and
protection.
Globally, he said, such workers were subjected to unstable
employment, lower wages and more dangerous working conditions.
?They rarely receive social benefits and are often denied the
rights to join a union.
?Today in Ghana on the blind side of the law, we see and helplessly
supervise the increasing use of subcontracting, which makes employers
insert intermediaries between themselves and the workers in a kind of
triangular relationship,? he stated.
Under this trend, Mr Kotei said the subcontractor earned super
normal profit for no hard work done. ?This trend is harmful to the
present and future security of workers in this country,? he warned.
He noted that some employers were abusing the privilege to employ
casual and temporary workers by giving a permanent status to their usage
in contravention of sections 78 of the labour Act, 2003 (Act 651).
He described this as unacceptable and called on the Government,
employers, civil society and advocates of justice and workers alike, to
stand up against the destruction of the decent work in Ghana by
unscrupulous employers.
Decent Work Day is celebrated each year to create awareness among
governments, employees, civil society organizations, workers, and other
stakeholders of the desecration of decent work by some unscrupulous
employers and their collaborators.
Source : GNA/newsghana.com.gh
