GEA, TUC push for employment opportunities

The Ghana Employers Association (GEA) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) are campaigning for the implementation of some key actions under the National Employment Policy (NEP) in the next three years.

Key among the actions is the creation of employment proportionate to economic growth in the country.

The country has been chalking up an average economic growth rate of seven per cent for the past decade, but experts say it has come with a dearth of employment opportunities.

To achieve that, the two organisations are pushing for the mainstreaming of employment creation in national development planning.

They are also working to improve upon the quality of employment in the country so that work would be carried out with openness, and workers would enjoy their rights as they work and engage actively in productive initiatives.

The two bodies also want to ensure a structured informal sector and improve upon productivity in the country.

These and many other actions were shared with journalists at a media interaction last Friday.

NECC

The Director of Research and Projects at the GEA, Mr Charles Asante-Bempong, said the dearth of employment creation had come at the heels of economic growth for some years now.

He added that it was within that setting that the country launched its employment policy.

He said the TUC, with the GEA, would soon send a common position on areas identified for immediate action under the NEP to the government.

Mr Asante-Bempong said as part of their efforts and with the support of the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund, they were campaigning to raise awareness of the policy and champion its implementation.

He indicated that an interim National Employment Coordinating Commission (NECC) had been established and was working on goals to be achieved in the short-term under the policy.

Overview

A Director of Industrial Relations with the GEA, Mr Joseph Amuah, said the NEP provided social partners comprising employers, labour unions and the government with clear-cut guidelines on how to approach issues of employment and its creation in the country.

He said a goal of the document was to ensure the creation of gainful and decent work for the teeming masses of youth in the country.

Action areas

A researcher with the Labour Research and Policy Institute of the TUC, Mr Prince Asafu-Adjaye, in his overview, shared the areas identified by the GEA and the TUC under the NEP for immediate implementation.

Under the creation of employment, he said the organisations were working for an accessible labour market information system for those in employment, students and policy makers to have the right information such as skills, job requirements for the labour market and opportunities in the economy.

Other initiatives were to campaign for Ghanaians to patronise made-in-Ghana goods which would create more job opportunities and vocational training.

Under the second strategic objective of ensuring quality of jobs, the partners were working together to facilitate the transformation of Ghana’s informal sector and the elimination of child labour, while improving gender equality in the work environment. 

Writer's email: caroline.boateng@graphic.com.gh