Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
Population:
Capital: Accra
Capital: Accra
Many employers remain hostile to trade unions, particularly in the export processing zones (EPZ
export processing zone
A special industrial area in a country where imported materials are processed before being re-exported. Designed to attract mostly foreign investors by offering incentives such as exemptions from certain trade barriers, taxes, business regulations, and/or labour laws.
). One union leader was sacked for speaking out about concerns over the future of jobs in the health insurance authority. The labour legislation does not sufficiently secure trade union rights, and the authorities retain some discretionary powers over unions.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
reported violations - 2011
Background
Ghana remained politically and economically stable during the year and was on course to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving poverty by 2015. It is still very dependent on international development assistance, however, and only ranks 130th on the Human Development Index. A new public sector pay policy, the Single Spine Salary Structure, was introduced in June, welcomed by some unions and rejected by others.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population:
Capital: Accra
Capital: Accra
reported violations- 2011
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
Trade union rights in law
Although the Labour Act has been brought more into line with international labour standards
international labour standards
Principles and norms related to labour matters, primarily codified in the Conventions and the Recommendations of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Include core labour rights such as freedom of association and the right to organise, the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike, which are all covered by ILO Conventions 87 and 98.
See ITUC Guide to international trade union rights , problematic areas remain. For starters, the Emergency Powers Act 1994 is still in force, and grants the authorities extensive powers to suspend any law and prohibit public meetings and processions. Many categories of workers are also excluded from the Labour Act, including managerial workers, the definition of whom is very broad. If there are multiple unions at a workplace, the “chief labour officer” has discretionary powers to decide which union will be awarded the collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
“certificate” needed to negotiate with the employer. Albeit the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike is guaranteed in the Labour Act, it can be limited in private enterprises if the workers’ services are deemed essential to the enterprise’s survival, and in essential services essential services Services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Can include the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, and air traffic control. Strikes can be restricted or even prohibited in essential services.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
, which includes many sectors that fall outside the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.
See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights definition.
See ITUC Guide to international trade union rights , problematic areas remain. For starters, the Emergency Powers Act 1994 is still in force, and grants the authorities extensive powers to suspend any law and prohibit public meetings and processions. Many categories of workers are also excluded from the Labour Act, including managerial workers, the definition of whom is very broad. If there are multiple unions at a workplace, the “chief labour officer” has discretionary powers to decide which union will be awarded the collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
“certificate” needed to negotiate with the employer. Albeit the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike is guaranteed in the Labour Act, it can be limited in private enterprises if the workers’ services are deemed essential to the enterprise’s survival, and in essential services essential services Services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Can include the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, and air traffic control. Strikes can be restricted or even prohibited in essential services.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
, which includes many sectors that fall outside the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.
See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights definition.
Freedom of association / Right to organize
Principles
Freedom of association :
- >The right to freedom of association is enshrined in the Constitution.
- >The right to freedom of association is regulated by a Labour Code.
The 2004 Labour Act removed restrictions on the right to organise, bringing the law into line with ILO Convention 87. However, the Emergency Powers Act 1994, which grants extensive powers to suspend the operations of any law and to prohibit public meetings and processions, has still not been repealed. The Labour Act was supplemented by other regulations in 2007.
Anti-Union discrimination:
- >The law prohibits anti-union discrimination.
Restrictions
Categories of workers prohibited or limited in law from forming or joining a union, or from holding a union office:
- >Armed forces
- >Police
- >Other civil servants and public employees
- The prison service and the security and intelligence agencies mentioned under the 1966 Security and Intelligence Agencies Act are excluded from the scope of the Labour Act.
- >Managerial and supervisory staff
- Section 79(29) of the Labour Act excludes workers from the right to join a trade union, where their function is considered as: (a) policy-making, (b) decision-making, (c) managerial, (d) holding a position of trust, (e) performing duties that are of a highly confidential nature or (f) being an agent of a shareholder of an undertaking.
Right to collective bargaining
Principles
Right to collective bargaining:
- >The right to collective bargaining is recognised by law.
Labour Act 2003
Restrictions
Legal barriers to the recognition of collective bargaining agents:
- >Absence of criteria or discretionary, unclear or unreasonable criteria for determining representative organisations
- The Labour Act makes the "chief labour officer" responsible for designating the most representative trade union, which will be authorised to negotiate with the employer, through giving the union a collective bargaining "certificate". The labour officer decides which union will be awarded the certificate where there is more than one union in the company. The ILO has maintained that the officer has totally discretionary powers and that the criteria on which the decision is based are not clear.
Right to strike
Principles
Right to strike:
- >The right to strike is regulated by a Labour Code.
Restrictions
Ban or limitations on certain types of strike actions:
- >Restrictions with respect to the level or scope of a strike (e.g. (enterprise, industry and/or sector, regional and/or territorial, national)
- Limitations can be imposed on the right to strike for workers in a private enterprise if their services are deemed essential to the enterprise's survival.
Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors:
- >Discretionary determination or excessively long list of "essential services" in which the right to strike is prohibited or severely restricted
- The list of essential services is too long, and includes many sectors, such as fuel distribution and public transport, that fall outside the ILO definition.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population:
Capital: Accra
Capital: Accra
reported violations - 2011
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
In practice
Employers use court decision to undermine trade union rights: Although freedom of association
freedom of association
The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework is protected in law, in practice this is undermined by a 2008 decision of the Accra High Court concerning Ghana Telecommunications Limited (GT) to the effect that employers could hire and fire without giving any reasons for the termination of employment. Mr Kofi Asamoah, secretary general of Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC), warned at the 2009 May Day rally that some employers were using the ruling to get rid of so-called troublesome workers and unionists.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework is protected in law, in practice this is undermined by a 2008 decision of the Accra High Court concerning Ghana Telecommunications Limited (GT) to the effect that employers could hire and fire without giving any reasons for the termination of employment. Mr Kofi Asamoah, secretary general of Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC), warned at the 2009 May Day rally that some employers were using the ruling to get rid of so-called troublesome workers and unionists.
Persistent violations in EPZ: Some employers in the export processing zones (EPZ
export processing zone
A special industrial area in a country where imported materials are processed before being re-exported. Designed to attract mostly foreign investors by offering incentives such as exemptions from certain trade barriers, taxes, business regulations, and/or labour laws.
) have persistently resisted the unionisation of their employees, despite the protection provided by the 2003 Labour Act. Blue Skies Products (Gh) Ltd (a subsidiary of Blue Skies Holdings UK), an EPZ
export processing zone
A special industrial area in a country where imported materials are processed before being re-exported. Designed to attract mostly foreign investors by offering incentives such as exemptions from certain trade barriers, taxes, business regulations, and/or labour laws.
fruit processing company that employs over one thousand workers, has consistently refused to recognise its workers’ union the Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU). FAWU is an affiliate of the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL). The union organised the workers and was issued with a Collective Bargaining
collective bargaining
The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
Certificate in February 2004, but has still not been able to negotiate with the company.
See collective bargaining agreement
Certificate in February 2004, but has still not been able to negotiate with the company.
Employer intolerance of trade unions: Many employers have a policy of zero tolerance for trade unions. Workers who attempt to form or join a trade union are intimidated and dismissed. Some employers include anti-union clauses in their employment contracts. In an interview in January 2010 Samuel Kwasi Donkor Baffoe, Industrial Relations
industrial relations
The individual and collective relations and dealings between workers and employers at the workplace, as well as the institutional interaction between unions, employers and also the government.
See social dialogue Officer of the Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance (UNICOF), publicly called on employers to respect the right of workers to join any labour union of their choice and refrain from threatening their unionised employees with dismissals. Many rural and community banks in the Ashanti region were criticised by the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) for deliberately attempting to frustrate unionisation at the workplace. The findings were contained in a research conducted by the ICU to ascertain the basis of alleged workplace intimidation of its members.
See social dialogue Officer of the Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance (UNICOF), publicly called on employers to respect the right of workers to join any labour union of their choice and refrain from threatening their unionised employees with dismissals. Many rural and community banks in the Ashanti region were criticised by the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) for deliberately attempting to frustrate unionisation at the workplace. The findings were contained in a research conducted by the ICU to ascertain the basis of alleged workplace intimidation of its members.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population:
Capital: Accra
Capital: Accra
reported violations - 2011
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
Violations
Blue Skies workers still denied right to join union of their choice: Blue Skies Products (Gh) Ltd continued to drag its feet over recognition
recognition
The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union.
of its workers’ union the Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU). While the Labour Department issued a collective bargaining
collective bargaining
The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
certificate to FAWU, it also gave one to the Blue Skies Staff Association, which the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) has described as a yellow union yellow union A union set up and/or controlled by the employer to prevent the establishment of a genuine trade union. . The case to decide which union should represent the workers went to court. FAWU filed a motion to join in the case in order to press its position. The case was called to court on 14 October without prior notification given to FAWU. The Attorney General’s Department suddenly announced the discontinuation of the case, without explanation. Blue Skies had filed several cases against GFL and FAWU as a means of delaying the recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. of its workers’ union. The cases were still pending at the end of the year.
See collective bargaining agreement
certificate to FAWU, it also gave one to the Blue Skies Staff Association, which the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) has described as a yellow union yellow union A union set up and/or controlled by the employer to prevent the establishment of a genuine trade union. . The case to decide which union should represent the workers went to court. FAWU filed a motion to join in the case in order to press its position. The case was called to court on 14 October without prior notification given to FAWU. The Attorney General’s Department suddenly announced the discontinuation of the case, without explanation. Blue Skies had filed several cases against GFL and FAWU as a means of delaying the recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. of its workers’ union. The cases were still pending at the end of the year.
Union leader dismissed for speaking out : Kwabena Bobie, branch chairman of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) workers’ union was dismissed on 6 December for comments he allegedly made in a recent interview on Joy FM, an Accra-based radio station. Mr. Bobie spoke on 13 November about the actions of some National Democratic Congress (NDC) staff which had led to the closure of some NHIA offices, as well as some cash flow problems facing the health insurance scheme, expressing concern for the job security of his colleagues. Although officials of NHIA are on record confirming some of the concerns Mr. Bobie alluded to in his Joy FM interview, the NHIA’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Sylvester Mensah, terminated his appointment.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population:
Capital: Accra
Capital: Accra
reported violations - 2011
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher