General Secretary of the University of Ghana chapter of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), Dr. Jerry Joe Harrison, has taken a swipe over claims that the suspension of anti-galamsey strike should be blamed on the entire Organised Labour.
He says it is erroneous to assume that the strike which was stopped was a decision by the entire leadership of Organised Labour after some few leaders of some of the unions had taken that decision.
He wants the persons involved to be singled out since some of them opposed to the decision which was already printed on a paper prior to their meeting on Wednesday.
Speaking on the KeyPoints on TV3 Saturday, October 12, 2024, Dr. Harrison noted that the TUC boss and his cohorts had already taken a decision prior to the meeting, which was read to the media at a time when there had not been a consensus on the way forward.
He explained in detail, to Alfred Ocansey, what ensued at the Wednesday meeting where the suspension of the strike was announced, saying that when the piece was read to them, some of them questioned why they will invite them to such a meeting after already taking a decision on the issue.
“If you say Organised Labour, that comprises all the unions, and there’s a procedure for taking decisions at meetings. On that particular day, we, anytime Organised Labour has a meeting, the issues are put on the table, we discuss it, and then we take a decision, pray, and then invite the media in, after which we discuss.
“On this particular occasion, we got in there, a statement was read to us, and I got up and asked, Josh (Joshua Ansah, Secretary General of the TUC), if you’ve already taken a decision, then why do you call us, to come and do what? And they took offense that I questioned, why they did that.
“And so, they apologised and said, okay, well, the topic is subject for debate, and so let’s decide on the way forward. Now, it was obvious that, apart from the registered nurses, ICU, and Concerned Teachers, every other body in the room was opposed to the suspension of the strike,” he disclosed.
Dr. Harrison continued that, “at some point, Bampo invited the media in, and I had to quickly rush to him and say, no, we haven’t finished discussing the issue, and we haven’t taken a final decision, so why do you want to bring in the media? And so, at that point, the Chairman for TUC was on the floor talking, when on the blind side of everybody, the media was invited in, and the statement that had been read, that had been opposed by Organised Labour, because more than 90% of the unions in the room opposed the suspension of the strike, they brought in the media and read the statement to them, so it is erroneous to say that this is Organised Labour.”
Organised Labour, as part of its measures to compel the government to act on the illegal mining menace which is also known as ‘galamsey’, threatened a nationwide strike.
According to the unions, government should declare a state of emergency and impose a ban on all forms of small-scale mining. This is due to the devastation nature of the environment, considering the turbidity levels of water bodies, required an urgent action from the government unlike its lackadaisical attitude towards the practice.
On Wednesday, October 09, 2024, a day to the commencement of the strike, leadership of Organised Labour announced that the intended strike has been called off.
This was announced by the Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Joshua Ansah on Wednesday.
Speaking in Accra, the Congress indicated that the decision followed a meeting with the government, during which the administration offered enhanced measures to strengthen the fight against illegal mining.
The leadership said that the government’s proposed actions were enough for them to back down on the strike, expressing hope that they were enough to resolve the matter.
