The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) has made it clear that the strike action announced by Organised Labour on Tuesday, October 1, will continue indefinitely until the government responds positively to demands for a ban on illegal mining activities, commonly known as galamsey.
In a statement on Tuesday, October 1, Joshua Ansah, Secretary-General of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), announced that "Following the expiration of our deadline, and the failure of the government to meet our demands on illegal mining, Organised Labour has decided to declare a nationwide strike with effect from October 10, 2024."
The strike is part of broader efforts by unions to pressure the government to take decisive action against galamsey, including declaring a state of emergency and banning unregulated mining activities that are damaging water bodies and forest reserves.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show with Bernard Avle on Wednesday, October 2, Kenneth Koomson, Deputy General Secretary of the GFL, reiterated that the government had failed to respond to any of the demands put forward by the unions.
"The demands were specific and clear and the government has not yet responded to any of the demands that we made. We spoke about the revocation of LI 2462 and the need to ensure that security personnel are deployed to water bodies and forest areas where mining is happening and none of those have been granted and that is why we are here [served notice to strike."
Mr. Koomson added that galamsey is considered one of the greatest threats to Ghana’s development and will therefore not listen to the government unless Organised Labour’s demands are met.
"It is an indefinite strike because we all understand the gravity of the problem that we are dealing with and so we consider this a top-notch problem that we have to tackle with all we can and so it will be an indefinite strike."
The GFL's stance on the matter makes it clear that they are resolute in their demands for immediate action from the government. The implications of an indefinite strike are significant, and it is evident that Organised Labour is committed to seeing a resolution to the issue of illegal mining. The ball is now in the government's court to respond effectively to these demands in order to avert the impending nationwide strike.
-By Tetteh Belinda | Mydailyreports24
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