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PROMOTING THE ILO DECENT WORK AGENDA IN THE INFORMAL
ECONOMY (I.E.): THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS AND INFORMAL ECONOMY
ASSOCIATIONS.
COUNTRY REPORT – GHANA TUCBY NADIA IBRAHIMAH
1. INTRODUCTION:
a) THE GHANAIAN SOCIETY
• Ghana is located in West Africa with a population of approximately 20 million. The sex ratio of the population is 97 males and 100 females or 51% female and 49% male in. The population is growing at about 2.7% per anum. The average household size is estimated at 5 members and life expectancy is 58years.
• Ecologically, Ghana is divided into 3 zones: Coastal and Forest Zones (in the southern part of the country) and Savannah (in the northern part of the country)
GHANAIAN SOCIETY CONT’D
• Administratively Ghana is divided into ten (10) regions: 3 in the north and seven (7) in the south. Majority of the population lives in the seven (7) southern regions
• The capital city is Accra with a population of about 3 million (15% of the country’s population). The two (2) other cities are Kumasi (4 hours drive from Accra) and Takoradi (3 hours drive from Accra)
• 1/3 of the country’s population live in the urban areas, 2/3 live in the rural area.
• Literacy rate among adults 15years and above is 57%
b) THE INFORMAL ECONOMY (I.E.) IN GHANA
(Gh. Living Standard Survey)
The Informal Economy in Ghana is appropriately defined to cover all“unregistered” economic activities(including agriculture). Over 80% ofthe economically active populationin Ghana are in the informal economy
Categories of I. E.
• There are three (3) categories of operators in the informal economy. Small businesses with few employees, mostly in the
area of service, artisans or small production. In reality they are SME’s (Small & Medium Sized Enterprises). This group includes a large number of artisans within wood, metal, textiles and other crafts; it also includes small shops, dress makers, hair dressers, mechanics and repairers etc. Quite a large number of these businesses have the potential for growth and can be supported (by giving them more regular jobs) through programmes of strengthening their managerial and entrepreneurial skills
Categories of I. E. cont’d
Self employed persons working with one or more unpaid family members in areas such as farming, crafts, trading etc. but without any paid labour. These groups often have to look for additional (or new) forms of income because of market trends and since their investments in equipment etc. most often are modest, they may shift their attention to completely new areas of income. Without employing paid labour, these businesses rarely have potential for growth as individual businesses, but through formation of cooperatives or associations working together, some of them may reach higher levels
Categories of I. E. cont’d
Self – employed persons working alone without real capital. They work at minimum level and will change their trade or position if something else comes up. This group includes street vendors, subsistence farmers, domestic workers, petty traders etc. It is difficult to support them to grow within their trade, but they can be encouraged to form associations and cooperatives and subsequently reach higher levels.
C) GHANA TRADES UNION CONGRESS(TUC)
(ref.: Gh. TUC Constitution & Regulations, Reviewed )
• TUC is the biggest umbrella organisation for trade union activities in Ghana. It is made up of Seventeen affiliate national unions which are constituted mainly along industrial sectors. These affiliate national unions are: General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) Union of Industry Commerce and Finance (UNICOF) Communication Workers Union (CWU) Public Services Workers Union (PSWU) Local Government Workers Union (LGWU) Maritime & Dockworkers Union (MDU) National Union of Seamen (NUS) Health Services Workers Union (HSWU)
GHANA TRADES UNION CONGRESS CONT’D
Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) Construction, Building Material Workers Union Public Utility Workers Union (PUWU) Timber & Woodworkers Union (TWU) Railway Enginemen Union (REU) Railway Workers Union (RWU) General Transport Petroleum & Chemical Workers Union (GTPCWU) Teachers & Educational Workers Union (TEWU)
The unions are autonomous and pursue their ownactivities within the framework of their constitutionand their areas of legally accepted jurisdiction. The TUC is non-political and its 1992 constitution debars all elected officials from identifying with any political Party.
GHANA TRADES UNION CONGRESS CONT’D
It has its headquarters at the hall of Trade Unionsin Accra. The TUC has over the years continuedto experience fluctuations in membership. This is due to dwindling formal sector employment whichtraditionally serve as the strength for TUCmembership. For instance from over one million membership (between 1958 -1983) and five hundredthousand membership (between 1983 – 1996), the total membership stands at 300,000 as at now. Without the addition of informal workers the situation could have been worse.
2. GHANA TUC’s INVOLVEMENT IN THE ORGANISATION OF I. E.
OPERATORSTrade unions in Ghana have been involved in organizational work in the informal economy since1978 when the General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) of TUC started organizing rural workers. The Union created a structure called the “Rural Workers Department” to facilitate the work. The Timber & Woodworkers Union, an affiliate of TUC started organizingcharcoal burners, small scale carpenters, chain saw operators and wood carvers. The Industrial/CommercialWorkers Union (ICU) began with the Organisation of hairdressers, beauticians and domestic Workers whilethe Public Service Workers Union started organizing lotto receivers & professional photographers. The ICU has since severed their relationship with Ghana TUC.
GHANA TUC’s INVOLVEMENT IN THE ORGANISATION OF I. E. OPERATORS-2
In addition to these unions, the GPRTU an informal economy
union which operates by organizing self employed
commercial drivers and vehicle owners has been a pioneer
member of GTUC since 1945.
Even though the informal economy has been
Growing over the years and especially in the 1980’s
where many formal workers were retrenched and
laid off as a result of the Structural Adjustment
Programme (SAP) introduced by the government of the
day, a situation which impacted negatively on union
membership, the union did not take advantage of the growth
of the sector to add up to their numbers.
GHANA TUC’s INVOLVEMENT IN THE ORGANISATION OF I. E. OPERATORS-3
This was due to lack of political will and clarity of direction on the part of union leaders. This was apparently as a result of the uncertain nature of thesector. The general feeling at the time was that it was much more expensive and time consuming to organise in the informal economy. Union leaders were not sure of the rate of returns on the human and financial investments made. Another belief was that the sector was a transitory phenomenon and not an enduring, even growing economic activity. Mean while the unions continued to experience decline in Membership.
3. NEW STRATEGIES FOR ORGANIZING (ref.: Org. Dept. TUC)
In 1996 the quadrennial delegates congress of
TUC considered the implications of the declining
trade union membership and adopted the policy on
the informal sector organisation. The policy
identified organizing operators in the informal
economy as a major challenge that required creative
approach and mobilisation. Following the formulation of
the policy a national leadership workshop, attended by
all the affiliate unions was organised to strategise for the
implementation of the policy. One of the issues that
came out for discussion was the benefits and
NEW STRATEGIES FOR ORGANIZING Cont.
challenges of organising informal operators into an
organisation of formal workers like TUC. The
workshop agreed that it was worth organising the
informal economy operators because their organisation
into the unions will enhance the leverage of TUC in the
eyes of the government and the general public, and
TUC will indeed be in a better position to claim to be a
truly workers representative and thus strengthen the
bargaining power of TUC with government and
employers. At the same time the informal economy
operators themselve will immensely benefit from TUC’s
organising skills and use this to strengthen the internal
democracy of their association.
NEW STRATEGIES FOR ORGANIZING Cont.
The informal economy operators will also benefit
from the several educational programmes
organised by the TUC. More importantly, the
TUC will serve as voice and representation for the
vulnerable in the informal economy. Another issue
that was identified was how organised informal
economy operators who are not on regular source
of income could pay subscription fees, since
traditionally trade unions depended on union dues
from their members for their sustenance.
NEW STRATEGIES FOR ORGANIZING Cont’d
The workshop recognized that even though
payment of union dues was an important factor in
trade union organisation and that the payment of
such dues shows members commitment to the
organisation, in view of the fact that informal
economy operators were not on regular incomes, it
was important to allow them pay subscription fees
at their own convenience. For example the
informal economy associations they belong to
could be made to pay the agreed dues on members
behalf. Payments could be effected on daily, weekly,
monthly or yearly basis.
NEW STRATEGIES FOR ORGANIZING Cont’d
Considering the peculiar nature of informal economy
operators with regard to sources of income, it was
agreed that unions should not use the amount of
funds from their organised informal economy
members to determine their policies and programmes
for them and that the overall objectives for organising
in the informal economy (i.e. increasing our leverage
as a truly representative of all workers and assisting
to give a large number of voiceless work force, voice
and representation) should be the underlying
principle of our organizational work in the informal
economy.
NEW STRATEGIES FOR ORGANIZING Cont’d
It was agreed that to make organizational work in
the sector much easier, the union should focus on
organising informal economy associations rather
than individual operators. Another critical issue
was the recognition that informal economy
operators tend to have several needs and the fact
that the traditional employee – employer relations
that trade unions are used to over the years do not
exist for traditional bargaining arrangements to be
effected.
NEW STRATEGIES FOR ORGANIZING Cont’d
Indeed while the workshop acknowledged the fact
that informal economy operators, by nature of their
work, could make several demands, trade unions
should be careful on their promises to this group of
workers and must constantly remind themselves of
the fact that as trade unions, they may not have
the funds to meet all the needs of their members.
Trade unions can represent informal economy
workers at meetings with government ministries,
municipal and local authorities.
NEW STRATEGIES FOR ORGANIZING Cont’d
They could also effectively advocate for good social and economic policies for them. The workshop recommended for the unions to review their constitutions in order to mainstream informal economy operators into their union structures.
One important strategy being used by TUC and the affiliate unions in their organizational work is the use of people they call “contact persons” who act as links between them and the potential informal economy association they intended organising.
NEW STRATEGIES FOR ORGANIZING Cont’d
The unique aspect of this structure was the fact that the
contact persons were identified and selected from
membership of the informal economy associations the
affiliate unions intended organising; it was the belief that
informal economy operators tend to have more faith in their
own colleague operators and listen to them than from
someone they see as a complete stranger from a trade
union office.
Ghana TUC have so far being able to develop training
manuals for the affiliate national unions to assist them
train their officers responsible for organisation.
NEW STRATEGIES FOR ORGANIZING Cont’d
It has also developed educational materials for the
national unions to use in training their contact persons,
newly elected executives of organised informal
economy associations as well as the core leadership of
the TUC. Another important publication is the
newsletters on TUC activities in the informal economy
that comes out yearly to sensitize the Ghanaian Media
and the general public.
4. CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD
Even though it is widely acknowledged that TUC
has made some progress with regard to the organisation
of workers in the informal economy, considering the
large pool of informal economy workers in Ghana (87% of
the total national economy), and given the enabling
environment that provides for freedom of association for
all workers (Labour Law 651) and the existence of
several informal economy associations in the country
ready for organisation, It is the belief that Ghana TUC
could have done more organisational work in the informal
economy than it has done so far.
CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD CONT’D
Some people attribute the apparent slow pace of organisational work to the method used. For example unions have the liberty to organise informal economy workers into their unions and thus a union can decide not to organise or organise at its own pace and convenience. Others attribute the slow pace of organisational work to other factors such as lack of commitment and political will on the part of leadership, inadequate resources and the inability of unions to develop appropriate strategies to attract and maintain informal economy workers.
CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD CONT’D
Indeed it is the feeling of those advocating for a
paradigm change in organisational methods that TUC
encourage the formation of one single umbrella union to
be responsible for informal economy workers. It is
believed that such an organisation which could be an
affiliate of TUC would focus more and better serve the
interest of its members i.e. the informal economy
workers than the present arrangement where informal
economy workers are made to compete with their
counterparts in the formal sector within the same union
for scarce resources and needs. As an affiliate of TUC,
such a union would enjoy all the rights and
responsibilities enshrined in the TUC constitution. It would
have a seat in all the TUC structures and its leaders would
be eligible for leadership positions in TUC
CONCLUSIONS
Indeed it can be said that all the arguments deduced for
the organisation of informal economy workers by TUC
are valid. What is important however is to consider these
as challenges and find the appropriate strategies to
address that for a better organisation of informal
economy workers.
In the light of the continuous decline in trade union
membership as a result of present global economic
dictates, it is important for trade unions, including the
Ghana TUC to realize that their relevance as workers
organisation is seriously under threat.
CONCLUSIONS
It must also be realized that no serious trade union can
claim to represent workers when in actual fact they only
can count on the membership from formal sector
workers. While it is true informal economy workers need
the support and services of trade unions to ensure the
protection of their interests and the defense of their
rights. It is also true trade unions require informal
workers to strengthen their organisation and make it
more legitimate and acceptable as workers organisation.
As trade unions we must find a way to develop the
appropriate strategies and make the necessary resources
available for more organisational work in the informal
economy.