Organised labour delivered a stark warning to government at the 2026 National May Day Parade in Koforidua on Friday, May 1, declaring that Ghana’s unemployment situation is nearing crisis level and urging a fundamental rethink of the country’s economic priorities to place jobs at the centre of policy.
The parade, held at Jackson Park in Koforidua in the Eastern Region, was attended by President John Dramani Mahama and thousands of workers from across the country. The event was organised under the theme “Pivoting to Growth, Jobs and Sustainable Livelihoods, Resetting Ghana Beyond Macroeconomic Stability.”
Delivering the keynote address on behalf of organised labour, Trades Union Congress (TUC) Secretary General Joshua Ansah said Ghana’s decades of economic growth had not produced enough decent, stable employment, warning that the disconnect between headline indicators and the lived experience of workers had become dangerous. “Decent employment, or the lack of it, remains one of the most significant economic and social problems in Ghana. And it has the potential to transform into a political problem if it remains unchecked. We are almost at crisis level,” he said.
Ansah argued that Ghana’s reliance on imports is actively draining employment from the economy. “The large volumes of imports that have saturated our market mean we are exporting jobs,” he said, calling for increased investment in manufacturing and agro-processing to generate employment at scale and reduce dependence on foreign goods. He stressed that the private sector must be placed at the heart of any credible job creation strategy, insisting that government-led interventions alone cannot solve a structural problem of this scale.
The TUC Secretary General also drew attention to the quality of existing jobs, criticising low wages, poor working conditions, and the growing use of fixed-term contracts that strip workers of benefits. He illustrated the wage challenge in pointed terms, noting that some salaries were “barely sufficient for a worker who takes hausa kooko for breakfast, gobbe for lunch and another kooko for dinner.” On the broader social risk, he warned that large-scale youth unemployment could produce a “destabilising force” if left unaddressed.
Responding from the platform, President Mahama reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to ensuring that economic gains filter through to workers. “I wish to promise the Ghanaian worker that as the economy grows, you will be the first to benefit. Growth must filter down to the pocket of the Ghanaian worker,” he said. The President also announced plans to introduce a new Labour Law to protect workers in the gig economy, and indicated that an Independent Emoluments Commission would be established to overhaul public sector pay and pension structures.
The national event was not without division. The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) and the Forum for Public Sector Associations and Unions boycotted the Koforidua ceremony, citing concerns about what they described as the TUC’s exclusive control of a platform that should reflect all of organised labour under Ghana’s plural labour relations framework.
