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Ghana joins the rest of the world on May 1 to mark the 2025 annual May Day celebration, taking time off their daily busy schedules to regroup and strategise for the days ahead, and push for better working conditions. The focus of this year’s celebration is “Resetting Pay and Working Conditions in Ghana: The Role of Stakeholders,” reflecting a response to several decades of calls by workers for fair and better wages.
High on the agenda is the call for better working conditions, including fair wages and compensation, protection from hazards and risks, safe and accommodating environment and opportunities for growth. To King James Azortibah, the General Secretary of the Teachers’ and Educational Workers’ Union (TEWU), the time had come for the Government to walk-the-talk to end all forms of unfavorable working conditions in the country.
“It is unacceptable that in this 21st-century Ghana, some of our members continue to work under substandard and hazardous conditions,” he said, urging the Government to prioritise workplace safety and health. He implored the Government not to renege on its reset promise by pursuing prudent economic policies for sustainable growth in the interest of all Ghanaians – be it those working in the formal or informal sectors.
Mr Morgan Ayawine, the General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU), told employers to treat employees fairly, in line with the Collective Agreement and the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651).
“We should, therefore, not take this dispensation for granted, but uphold it, and continue to accentuate the rights of workers in this regard, in the mutual relationship with employers and other stakeholders,” he said.
Mrs Lydia Kukua Asamoah, a local Chairperson of the Ghana News Agency Chapter of the Public Services Workers’ Union (PSWU), called for mutual effort between the Government and workers to engender productivity and national development.
“Any wage that the worker deserves should be given to them. The workers must also endeavour to execute their responsibilities with diligence to support the government’s reset agenda – to make the country a better place even for generations unborn,” she said.
Mrs Asamoah underscored the importance of information in courting public support for government’s policies and initiatives, which would inure to development. Therefore, she called for the retooling of the Ghana News Agency, the country’s only State-owned wire service, to effectively perform its public information and education roles.
“In an era of misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation and its attendant public confusion, erosion of trust, social unrest, and harm to individuals or groups, credible media outlets like GNA must be assisted to play their crucial role of providing factual, accurate and reliable information to the public,” she said.
That would promote national peace and cohesion, and support development, she said, and congratulated all workers for their tireless efforts all year-round to ensure progress.
Meanwhile, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) has reiterated the need to review the Single Spine Pay Policy, following the 15 years of its implementation, announcing the establishment of an Independent Emoluments Commission by the end of 2025.
“This initiative aims to ensure fair and transparent compensation across the public sector, addressing longstanding concerns about salary disparities and enhancing public trust in the remuneration system,” said Dr George Smith-Graham, the Acting Chief Executive, FWSC.
While 1890 saw the first official celebrations, the roots of May Day lie in the 1886 Haymarket affair and the 1889 declaration by the Second International – where workers protested for an eight-hour workday.
As the rally was winding down, a bomb exploded, killing several police officers and civilians, and leading to the arrest and execution of labour leaders, with four labour leaders eventually executed by hanging on November 11, 1887.
With the passage of time, the May Day -also known as International Workers’ Day – has seen a significant departure from the violent strike by workers in Chicago in 1886 to the celebration of workers’ rights and solidarity.
In Ghana, the first celebration occurred in 1960, three years after the country gained Independence, where Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first President, was declared the ‘First Number One Worker, and decorated with an award by the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
It was suspended following the 1966 coup and resumed in 1967. A rotation of the celebration started in 1981, and has since been hosted in Koforidua, Tamale, Takoradi, Obuasi, Cape Coast, Ho, and Bolgatanga. Lately, the day is characterised by parades and cultural performances across the regional capitals in the country, in recognition of the invaluable contributions of workers to national development.
Leaders of labour, through speeches, call on the Government to attend to issues affecting workers and matters of national interest, as placard-wielding workers also make their grievances known during the parades.
Source : GNA
