The Trades Union Congress (TUC) in most uncharacteristic manner yesterday levelled a number of accusations against the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) which came as a surprise to us.
At a press conference held in Accra, the Secretary General of the TUC, Dr Yaw Baah, levelled numerous accusations against the ICU and its General Secretary, Reverend Solomon Kotei.
The main purpose of the press conference, as the TUC Secretary General put it, was to set the record straight in an ongoing fracas between the TUC and the ICU.
Among others, the Secretary General accused some members of the ICU of wielding placards with inscriptions purposely designed to tarnish his image at the Black Star Square during the May Day Parade on May 1 in the presence of the President and the Vice President of the Republic as well as other dignitaries.
The Secretary General explained that the behaviour of the members of the ICU is attributable to an ongoing litigation between the TUC and the ICU over the occupancy of offices in the TUC Hall in Accra.
We are not going to dwell on the disagreement and the details of it. Our concern is the continuous differences that had existed between the two worker unions, which are unhealthy.
For us, the disagreement between the two worker unions is a complete failure by the two institutions to resolve what appears to be a simple matter.
The two institutions are the mouthpiece of workers of the country and they are the ones who negotiate very complex and difficult problems between workers and government as well as various managements across the country.
The question is if they have been able to resolve very complex issues amicably, why is it difficult for them to resolve problems between the two institutions?
The Ghanaian Times does not believe that the problems are insurmountable.
Just as all other issues are resolved particularly those that concern workers, the issues between TUC and ICU can also be resolved without resorting to the law court.
Fortunately, Dr Baah indicated during the press conference that TUC’s doors “will remain open for ICU to re-affiliate to TUC. We are also ready to continue to dialogue with the leadership of ICU to resolve all issues amicably in the spirit of unity and solidarity.”
We believe that this is the way to go!
We urge all well-meaning Ghanaians, particularly organised labour to intervene in this matter and mediate in the fracas in order to bring an end to the unhealthy disagreements.
We also count on the government, the clergy and civil society organisations (CSOs) to also step in to bring an end to the impasse.
We believe that workers of this country need a united front to forge ahead in solidarity.
