Former UN Senior Governance Advisor Prof Baffour Agyemang-Duah has voiced surprise at the government’s assumption that it could disregard the concerns of organized labour.
He emphasized that underestimating the influence of the “sleeping giant in organized labour” was startling, particularly considering the serious consequences of interfering with the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) fund, which secures the future of workers.
“If organised labour wants to paralyse the whole country, they are in a position to do so. That was why I was surprised when they were defending that was undefendable and dragging their feet,” he said. on Joy News PM Express on Monday.
“SSNIT represents the future of all workers in the country because, by law, you are supposed to keep part of their salaries hoping that upon retirement, they may get some cushion to lay their head.
“So, if someone is playing with that kind of future, you can understand why workers will rise in unison to oppose it.”
Prof. Agyemang-Duah also weighed in on SSNIT’s proposal to sell 60% of its shares in four hotels, suggesting either a poor presentation of SSNIT’s case or a significant conflict of interest.
Organized labour suspended its strike on Monday, July 15, which was initially launched in protest against SSNIT’s plan to sell these shares to a private firm owned by the Food and Agriculture Minister, Bryan Acheampong.
This decision was announced by Dr. Yaw Baah, Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), during a press conference following an emergency meeting.
He mentioned that they are granting SSNIT a month to resolve all remaining pension issues or “they will decide their next steps.”
Describing the strained relationship between organized labor and SSNIT as “troubling,” Prof. Agyemang-Duah criticized the Trust for seemingly supporting a public official involved in purchasing state assets.
The head of the Kufuor Foundation pointed out that the government should have taken heed when organized labor initially protested against the sale.
“In the 70s, labour paralyzed the military regime of the time. Between 1975 to 1977, there were lots of labour agitations, leading to internal changes within the government itself.
“Since then, we know that whenever labour begins to rumble over these matters, the government begins to have no options but to capitulate.
“Perhaps, lessons must be learnt from the Kenya peaceful demonstration which rolled into something else and forced the government to swallow its own bill and go beyond that to quickly drop the cabinet,” he said.