Ghana’s mineworkers’ union has escalated its opposition to the government’s contract mining directive, threatening strikes and public protests unless the policy is suspended and replaced with inclusive consultations involving workers, employers and regulators.
Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMWU) President Abdul Moomin Gbana confirmed the union’s position publicly on Friday, telling reporters that local contractors consistently pay workers at lower rates and offer weaker job security than the multinational firms currently operating the mines. “Local contractors pay lower rates to workers and offer less job security than foreign firms, and the legislation will hurt ordinary miners,” he said. The union, which represents approximately 14,000 workers across Ghana’s large-scale mining sector, has vowed to mount stiff resistance to the policy.
The directive, issued by the Minerals Commission through letters sent between October 2025 and January 2026, requires Newmont, AngloGold Ashanti and Chinese-owned Zijin Mining to fully hand over their mining operations to locally owned or majority Ghanaian-owned contractors by December 2026 or face sanctions including fines and potential mine shutdowns. The three companies are the last major miners still running operations with their own staff.
In its formal letter to the Minerals Commission Chief Executive Officer, the GMWU characterised the contract mining model as “dangerous, regressive, and economically unsound,” arguing that previous transitions to contractor arrangements across the sector have produced a consistent pattern of wage cuts, eroded benefits and weakened statutory compliance. The union states that workers in contractor systems have in many cases seen their earnings fall to less than half of what they earned doing the same jobs under owner-operated arrangements. It says benefits that were standard under direct employment structures are routinely stripped away or diluted under contractor systems, placing workers at heightened financial and social risk.
The union also cited ongoing disputes in parts of the sector, specifically referencing a standoff between workers and Engineers and Planners, a Ghanaian-owned mining contractor that is among the firms the government has held up as evidence that local companies can handle expanded contract mining roles. The GMWU says Engineers and Planners has refused to meet statutory obligations including Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contributions and Tier 2 pension payments that have accrued over multiple years.
The Minerals Commission has acknowledged the labour concerns but rejected the union’s broader conclusion. Chief Executive Isaac Tandoh said the commission plans to tighten contractor oversight to prevent the undercutting of wages and operating standards, citing cases where mining costs had been slashed from $3 per tonne to below $2.50, leaving workers worse off. He said the government agency would use regulations to set clearer pricing benchmarks and support local firms through guidance and joint ventures, adding that unions were right to advocate for workers.
Tandoh has framed the broader localisation push as a structural correction, arguing that employment alone is not sufficient. “Employment is not the same as ownership. Labour is not the same as control. Our people are working in the mines, agree, but do they own the mines?” he said.
The Ghana Chamber of Mines has not issued a public statement but sources within the industry group have described the policy as commercially contentious, arguing that companies that can operate more efficiently should be allowed to determine their own production models. Mining executives have also raised legal concerns, arguing the directive conflicts with Ghana’s mining law, which grants leaseholders authority over how they choose to mine.
The GMWU is calling for the immediate suspension of the directive pending broader dialogue, insisting that reforms affecting thousands of workers cannot be driven by policy timelines alone.
