Ghana Trades Union Congress
Founded1945 (1945)
HeadquartersAccra, Ghana
Location
  • Ghana
Members
500,000
Key people
Anthony Yaw Baah
AffiliationsITUC
Websiteghanatuc.org

The Ghana Trades Union Congress is a national centre that unites various workers' organizations in Ghana.[1][2] The organization was established in 1945.[2]

History

The GTUC as a central co-ordinating body for 14 union groups in 1945.[2] The unions were registered under the Trade Union Ordinance of 1941. In 1954, the union proposed that the local unions be amalgamated along industrial groupings to make the union strong. The proposal was approved in 1955.[2] The union had 24 member unions in 1958 and was regulated by the Industrial Relations Act 56.[2] The first elections of the GTUC was held in 1966 after Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana was overthrown. The election was conducted to replace the union leaders who were under detention under the National Liberation Council. In 1971, the GTUC was dissolved as the sole trades union congress after parliament, led by the Busia government, passed Act 383. The Act was repealed by the I.K. Acheampong government in the same year. The union's executives were replaced in a "coup d'etat" in 1983 by an Interim Management Committee at the instance of the Association of Local Unions (ALU) of the Greater Accra Region.[2] The union in 1984 held it national congress to restore it existence and restored its constitutionality.

Membership

The membership of the organization is made up of all workers' group. A local union is formed by any five members at a work place. Various local groups which share common objectives form a national group - a local group. The local union upon formally registering with the TUC is admitted as a member of the group.[3]

Functions

The union's functions include:[4]

  • protecting the collective bargaining rights of member unions under it
  • advocacy and policy intervention concerning labour market and national issues that concerns its members.

Affiliates

In 2007, the member strength of the union was about 350,000 members,[4] which had grown to 479,270 by 2018. As of that date, the following unions were affiliated:[5]

UnionAbbreviationFoundedMembership (1985)[6]Membership (2018)[5]
Cocoa Research Workers' UnionCRWUN/A1,000
Communications Workers' UnionCWU19587,0002,881[7]
Construction and Building Materials Workers' UnionCBMWU195439,55310,000
Federation of Universities Senior Staff Association of GhanaFUSSAG19722,262
General Agricultural Workers' UnionGAWU1959100,00050,000
General Construction, Manufacturing and Quarries Workers' UnionGCMQWUN/A5,167
General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers' UnionGTPCWU196729,1857,500
Ghana Mine Workers' UnionGMWU194427,01820,000
Ghana Private Road Transport UnionGPRTU196756,138120,000
Health Services Workers' UnionHSWU196530,00028,811
Local Government Workers' UnionLGWU195635,00010,000
Maritime and Dockworkers' UnionMDU195631,08510,000
National Union of Seamen, Ports and Allied WorkersNUSPAW19405,0111,500
Public Services Workers' UnionPSWU195963,00024,000
Public Utility Workers' UnionPUWU196720,00010,288
Railway Enginemen's UnionREU1951898300[7]
Railway Workers' UnionRWU19268,9551,342
Teachers' and Educational Workers' UnionTEWU196240,00060,000
Timber and Woodworkers' UnionTWU195218,0008,400
Union of Industry, Commerce and FinanceUNICOF2003N/A12,000[7]
Union of Informal Workers AssociationsUNIWA2013N/A87,000

Former affiliates

UnionAbbreviation[5]LeftReason not affiliatedMembership (1958)[8]
Accra Municipal Workers' Union2,800
Agriculture Department Employees' Union1959Merged into GAWU5,958
Airways Workers' Union98
Amalgamated Civil Engineering and Woodworkers' UnionACEWU
Bank of British West Africa Employees' Union850
Barclays' Bank Staff Union121
Cape Coast Municipal Workers' Union198
Cocoa Purchasing Company Employees' Union476
Compagnie Français de l'Afrique Occidentale Employees' Union1,500
Commercial and Allied Workers' Union1960Merged into ICU3,000
Cooks' and Stewards' Union of Western Province1956Merged into MDUN/A
Co-operative Movement Union600
Eastern Province Cooks' and Stewards' Union1956Merged into MDUN/A
Elder Dempster Lines Dockworkers' Union1956Merged into MDUN/A
Elder Dempster Lines Workers' Union1956Merged into MDUN/A
G. B. Ollivant Employees' Union800
General Engineering Construction Employees' UnionMerged into ACEWUN/A
Ghana Broadcasting Employees' Union1959Merged into PSWU507
Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board Employees' Union30
Ghana Government Electrical Workers' Union997
Ghana Government Transport Employees' Union840
Ghana Housing Employees' Union1956Merged into CBMWU184
Ghana Maritime Workers' Union1956Merged into MDUN/A
Ghana Masons' Union1956Merged into CBMWU46
Ghana Meteorological Employees' Staff Union1959Merged into PSWU200
Ghana Military Civil Employees' Union200
Ghana Motor Drivers' Union1967Merged into GPRTU6,236
Ghana Post Office African Employees' Union1958Merged into CWU550
Ghana Societe Commerciale Oriental Afrique Employees' Union900
Ghana Taxi Drivers' Union200
Ghana Union of TeachersGUT1962Dissolved2,349
Ghana Water Works African Employees' Union508
Gold Coast National Union of TeachersNUT1956Merged into GUTN/A
Gold Coast Teachers' UnionGCTU1956Merged into GUTN/A
Health and General Hospital Workers' UnionHGHWU1964Merged into HSWUN/A
ICT and General Services Workers Employees' UnionN/A
Industrial and Commercial Workers' UnionICU2003DisaffiliatedN/A
Industrial Development Corporation Employees' UnionMerged into ACEWUN/A
Kumasi Municipal Workers' Union2,453
National Seamen and Dock Workers' Union1956Merged into MDUN/A
National Union of Domestic, Restaurant, Bar and Hotel Workers1,105
National Union of Ghana Oil Workers800
Postal Engineering Workers' Union1958Merged into CWU1,592
Post and Telegraph Aeradio Employees' Union100
Public Works Department Employees' Union18,568
Sekondi Takoradi Municipal Workers' Union600
Survey Department Employees' Union296
Taylor Woodrow African Employees' UnionMerged into ACEWUN/A
Teamsters' and Private Transport Workers' Union1962N/A
Transport and Telecommunications Workers' UnionN/A
Union of Catering TradesN/A
Union of Teachers and Educational Institution WorkersUTEIW1962DissolvedN/A
University College of Ghana Employees' Union500
West African Cocoa Research Institute Workers' Union1959Merged into GAWU567
West African Graphic Employees' Union300

International affiliations

The federation affiliated to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in the early 1950s, and in 1957, it hosted the founding conference of the ICFTU African Regional Organisation. The country's membership of the Non-Aligned Movement, and the ICFTU's opposition to the TUC spending money on a new Trades Hall building, led the TUC to resign from the ICFTU in 1959. It retained informal links with some ICFTU affiliates, and rejoined the ICFTU in 1966.[9][10] Today it is affiliated with International Trade Union Confederation, the successor of ICFTU.[11]

The GTUC is affiliated with various international trade union organizations, including the Organisation of Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA).[4]

Leadership

Secretaries-General

1945: Manfred Gaisie
1947: Anthony Woode
1950: Charles Techie-Menson
1952: A. Allotey Moffatt
1953: E. C. Turkson-Ocran
1954: John Kofi Barku Tettegah
1959: Joe-Fio N. Meyer
1960: John Kofi Barku Tettegah
1962: Sylvanus D. Magnus-George (acting)
1964: Kwaw Ampah
1966: Benjamin Bentum
1972: Alhaji Issifu
1982: J. R. Baiden
1982: Interim committee
1983: Augustus Yankey
1993: Christian Appiah-Agyei
2000: Kwasi Adu-Amankwah
2008: Kofi Asamoah
2016: Anthony Yaw Baah

Chairs

1945: Charles Techie-Menson
1948: J. C. Vandyck
1950: J. N. Sam
1952: Larbi Odam
1953: F. E. Techie-Menson
1956: Joe-Fio N. Meyer
1958: D. K. Foevie
1964: Benjamin Bentum
1966:
E. O. Amoah
1983: E. K. Aboagye
1988: Dennis Vormawor
1992: Alex K. Bonney
2012: Georgina Opoku Amankwah
2016: Richard Kwasi Yeboah
2021: Alex Nyarko-Opoku

References

  1. ↑ "GTUC". www.ghanatuc.org. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Landmarks". www.ghanatuc.org. Archived from the original on 18 January 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  3. ↑ "Who can be a member". www.ghanatuc.org. Archived from the original on 18 January 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 "About the GTUC". www.ghanatuc.org. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 "Labour Market Profile 2020: Ghana" (PDF). Danish Trade Union Development Agency. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  6. ↑ Anyemedu, Kwasi. "Trade union responses to globalization: Case study on Ghana" (PDF). Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 Figure is for 2012: Trade Unions and Industrial Relations in Ghana. Ghana Trade Union Congress. 2012. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  8. ↑ Directory of Labour Organizations: Africa. Washington DC: United States Department of Labor. 1958. pp. 13.1–13.13.
  9. ↑ Carew, Anthony (2000). The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Oxford: Peter Lang. p. 579. ISBN 9783906764832.
  10. ↑ Sackeyflo-Lenoch, Naaborko (24 May 2017). "The Ghana Trades Union Congress and the Politics of International Labor Alliances, 1957–1971". International Review of Social History. 62 (2).
  11. ↑ "LIST OF AFFILIATED ORGANISATIONS" (PDF). ITUC. 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-08-28. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
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