Ten Trade Union Actions - Inclusive Cities

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A male worker in the formal services sectorearns most, whereas a female agriculturalworker has almost no income. In theinformal economy workers in transportand communication sectors earn most,workers in commercial sectors least. 18In Ghana, sixty-five companies employingin all about 8,700 workers (March2002), operate under the Free ZonesScheme. This number is expected torise in the coming years. The Free ZonesAct 1995 (FZA) recognises labour rights,including the freedom of association. Onthe recommendation of the Free ZonesBoard the Chairman can declare any areaor building a free trade zone by publishinga message in the Commercial andIndustrial Bulletin.Paragraph 34 (i) of the Free Zones Actprovides what follows: ‘Developers andcompanies in free zones are free to bargainover and conclude employment contractswith workers, which contain agreementson wage scales, minimum workinghours, suspension and dismissal ofworkers, settlement of disputes betweenemployers and workers, and other workingconditions that are consistent withILO conventions on workers’ rights andworking conditions.’ Some companiesemploy a large number of temporarystaff, trying that way to escape the pressureto improve the usually very badworking conditions in the free zones. 19Ghana has been a member of the ILOsince 1957 and it has ratified 46 conventions.In October 2003, the Parliament of theRepublic of Ghana adopted a newLabour Act (Act 651). The Act applies toall the workers and all the employers,except for the army, the police, the prisonsystem and the security and intelligenceservices (art. 1). The Labour Act recognisesthe fundamental principlesand rights as embedded in the ILODeclaration on the FundamentalPrinciples and Rights at Work (1998).• Freedom of associationEvery worker has the right to form orjoin a trade union of his or her choicefor the promotion and protection of theworker’s economic and social interests(art. 79 (1)). Two or more workers of asame company can create a tradeunion (art. 80 (1)). <strong>Trade</strong> unions mustturn to the Chief Labour Officer to registerand to obtain a certificate for collectivebargaining. In practice, this canbe an obstacle to the principle of freedomof association and collective bargaining.• Elimination of forced labourA person shall not be required to performforced labour (art. 116 (1)).Though forced labour is not very widespread,slavery practices occur in severalethnic groups along the coast ofGhana (DTUC, p. 68).• Elimination of child labourChild labour is regulated by theChildren’s Act, 1998 (Act 560). ThisAct provides that children must not beemployed for exploiting work that18. DTUC 2003, p 37 and p 38.19. DTUC 2003, p. 30.33
| Chapter 2 | THE PRACTICE |harms their health, education or development(paragraph 87). Though educationis free and compulsory until theage of 14, quite a lot of children, particularlygirls, leave school under economicpressure. UNICEF reports that80% of the girls employed as domesticworkers are between 10 and 14years old (DTUC, p. 67). Child prostitutionand trafficking occur as well,even if they are prohibited.• Elimination of discriminationArt. 10 (b) of the new Labour Actrecognises the right to equal remunerationfor equal work. Anti-union discriminationis prohibited by law (art.14 and 127), but in practice lots ofcompanies keep discriminating tradeunions and the government cannotstop this (DTUC, p. 66).According to Art. 10 of the Labour Act theworkers’ rights include:- the right to work insatisfactory, safeand healthy conditions;- the right to receive equal pay for equalwork without any distinction of anykind;- the right to have rest, leisure and anreasonable limitation of working hoursand period of holidays with pay as wellas remuneration for public holidays;- the right to form or join a trade union;- the right to be trained and retrained forthe development of his of her skills;and- the right to receive information relevantto his or her work.There are a few special provisions onthe employment of disabled people(art. 45-54), the employment of women(art. 55-57) and the employment ofyoung persons (art. 58-61). The LabourAct prohibits the employment of youngpersons (between 18 and 21 years of age)in hazardous work (i.e. work that couldexpose them to physical or psychologicaldangers).Developing a legal strategy for informaleconomy workers on the basis of the newLabour Act requires the examination ofthe field of application of the Act.Article 1 of the Act provides that it appliesto all workers and all employers, but whoare these workers?A ‘worker’ is a person employed undera contract of employment whether on acontinuous, part-time, temporary ofcasual basis (Art. 175). This implies that-in theory- dependent informal economyworkers can demand the application ofthe rights embedded in the Labour Code.Yet, the Labour Code contains some seriousrestrictions: the provisions relatedto working and rest hours, for instance,do not apply to piece-workers anddomestic staff (art. 44). And the specialprovisions on temporary and occasionalworkers do not apply to piece-workers,part-time workers, tenants, apprentices,wage-earners in the fishing industry andall persons who work less than 24 hoursa week (art. 73).As a consequence, informal economy34
Page 5 and 6: FOREWORDDecent work 1 for everybody
Page 7 and 8: WHY THIS MANUAL ANDIn an era in whi
Page 10 and 11: Chapter 1The theory9
Page 12 and 13: to vote, collective bargaining was
Page 14 and 15: have basically no access to protect
Page 16: The worker will advance facts that
Page 19 and 20: | Chapter 1 | THE THEORY |3 What le
Page 21 and 22: | Chapter 1 | THE THEORY |Exercise
Page 23 and 24: | Chapter 1 | THE THEORY |Child lab
Page 25 and 26: | Chapter 1 | THE THEORY |Exercise
Page 27 and 28: | Chapter 1 | THE THEORY |• Migra
Page 29 and 30: | Chapter 1 | THE THEORY |to preven
Page 32 and 33: 2Chapter 2The practice31
Page 36 and 37: workers are in many cases excluded
Page 38 and 39: ers organised themselves, they coul
Page 40 and 41: employed workers as well. The quest
Page 42 and 43: Chapter 310 possibleactions341
Page 44 and 45: 2 ActionsAction 1Identify the targe
Page 46 and 47: Action 4Insist on ratification and
Page 48 and 49: ExerciseDesign a campaign to make i
Page 50: Action 10Give legal adviceGiving le
Page 53: | Chapter 4 | ANNEXES |1 List ofpar
Page 56 and 57: C30 Hours of Work (Commerce andOffi
Page 58 and 59: C92 Accommodation of CrewsConventio
Page 60 and 61: C159 Vocational Rehabilitation andE

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